NEW YORK
According to the rules of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which Syria signed on Thursday, it has thirty days to declare its chemical arsenal and another thirty to submit a plan of destruction.
Washington has expressed its concern of the process being used as a delaying tactic, and has insisted on a tangible time frame. While Russia has refused such a strict time frame, Moscow and Washington are in discussions to settle differences.
In hopes of averting the US possible attack, the Syrian regime swiftly signed the CWC convention and submitted it to the UN Secretary-General's office.
"Legally speaking Syria has become, starting today, a full member of the convention," Syrian UN Ambassador Bashar Jaafari told reporters in New York. The UN confirmed that it has received documents from Syria on joining the convention, but has refrained from approving the Syrian application. The UN diplomats noted that Syria's application still had missing elements and could be sent back to Damascus.
The convention, which was adopted by member states in 1992 and became applicable in 1997, outlaws the production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons. The 189 parties to the treaty are obliged not to use chemical weapons.
Angola, Egypt, North Korea and South Sudan are not members of the ban on chemical weapons. Israel and Myanmar have signed the convention but not yet ratified the treaty.
As of 2013, more than 80 percent of declared chemical weapons stockpiles have been destroyed, according to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
The Syrian regime's chemical attack on civilians triggered a worldwide outcry which led the US to mobilize its forces around the Middle Eastern country. While the Barack Obama administration sought authorization from the US Senate to take military action against Assad regime, it stated punitive military action can be averted if Syria places its chemical stockpile under international control.
