USA President Obama welcomes deal reached to strip Syria of chemical weapons

US President Barack Obama has welcomed the deal reached Saturday to strip Syria of chemical weapons, but said much remains to be done.

In a statement Obama warned Damascus to comply with the accord and said that if the regime of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad does not live up to the deal Washington reached with Syria's ally Russia, the United States remains prepared to act.

US President Barack Obama further stated,

“We need to see concrete actions to demonstrate that Assad is serious about giving up his chemical weapons. And since this plan emerged only with a credible threat of U.S. military action, we will maintain our military posture in the region to keep the pressure on the Assad

regime. And if diplomacy fails, the United States and the international community must remain prepared to act.”

Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi praised the deal struck by Russia and the United States.

Wang said the Syrian regime's decision to join the global anti-chemical weapons treaty could pave the way for a political solution and that the international community needed to play an active role.

In a further development the opposition Syrian National Coalition elected moderate Islamist Ahmad Tumeh as provisional prime minister yesterday, entrusting him with the difficult task of restoring order to areas no longer controlled by President Bashar al-Assad.

Tumeh, a former political prisoner from the Eastern Province of Deir al-Zor, got 75 votes out of 97 cast in a coalition ballot in Istanbul, the sources said.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Opposition Syrian Supreme Military Council has said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would not adhere to the conditions of a U.S.-Russian agreement to eliminate Syria‘s chemical weapons, as he is moving his chemical materials into Lebanon and Iraq.

Speaking at a news conference, General Selim Idris said he had been informed that Assad's forces had started moving some of their chemical weapons to Lebanon and Iraq in the last few days to evade a possible U.N. inspection.

The US-Russia accord leaves major questions unanswered, including how feasible such a major disarmament can be in the midst of civil war and at what point Washington might yet make good on a continued threat to attack if it thinks Assad is reneging.