Syria Submits Chemical Weapons Arsenal List

Syria has complied with US-Russia-brokered plans to submit details of its chemical weapons stockpiles to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague.

Organisation spokesman Michael Luhan said it had received an "initial declaration" of Damascus's chemical weapons. The list was being reviewed by the OPCW's verification division.

The Assad regime has agreed to destroy its 1,000-tonne arsenal to avoid an American strike over the fatal Ghouta nerve gas attack, which led to the deaths of 1,400 people.

An unnamed UN diplomat told Reuters: "[The list is] quite long and is being translated."

The 41-nation executive council of the OPCW is due to vote on a plan to fast-track the destruction of Syria's stockpiles by 2014, although its next meeting, scheduled for Sunday, has been postponed.

Meanwhile, Syria's deputy prime minister, Qadri Jamil, has backtracked on arlier remarks in an interview with the Guardian that Syria would call for a ceasefire at the planned Geneva 2 peace conference.

In an interview with Russia Today's Arabic channel, he accused the British paper of failing to respond to a complaint about the interview. Jonathan Steele, the author of the article, stands by his account of the interview.

The Guardian is planning to release an audio version of Jamil's comments.