Kerry says Assad should hand over all chemical weapons within one week to avert attack [View all]

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http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/10/world/middleeast/kerry-says-syria-should-hand-over-all-chemical-arms.html

Kerry Says Syria Should Hand Over All Chemical Arms
By MICHAEL R. GORDON

LONDON — Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday that if President Bashar al-Assad wants to avert an attack on Syria, he should hand over all of his chemical weapons within one week.

Asked if there were steps the Syrian president could take to avert an American-led attack, Mr. Kerry said, “Sure, he could turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week — turn it over, all of it, without delay and allow the full and total accounting.”

Mr. Kerry’s remarks, which were made at a joint news conference with William Hague, the British foreign secretary, were the latest in a war of words between the Syrian leader and the Obama administration.