International
United Nations weapons inspectors have begun the process of destroying Syria's chemical weapons and the equipment to manufacture them, a U.N. official said Sunday.
It's not clear whether the start of the destruction signals a new push for a political solution between rebel factions and the Syrian government, with U.N. peace envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi saying its not certain talks will happen in mid-November.
The destruction comes in the wake of gruesome Aug. 21 chemical attack in Damascus, which the United States and rebel leaders said killed over a thousand civilans, including hundreds of children.
The United States and its NATO allies blamed the attack on government forces led by Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, whose government has been embroiled in bloody war against rebel groups since 2011.
More than 100,000 people have died in the fighting, according to the U.N. The attack prompted U.S. president Barack Obama in August to threaten military action to punish the Assad regime and destroy its chemical weapons capabilities.
Russia, an ally of Assad, vowed to defy the move in the United Nations and launched a diplomatic effort against an attack.
After Secretary of State John Kerry let slip that Assad could avoid a U.S. missile strike by destroying his chemical arms, but that his doing so was unlikely, Russian president Vladimir Putin seized on the idea as a peace plan.
Negotiations between Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov resulted in a deal to let U.N. weapons inspectors destroy the stockpiles.
The U.S. says it still retains the option of using military force.
Al Jazeera and wire services
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