US Secretary of State John Kerry has praised Syria’s President Basahr Al-Assad for co-operating with international monitors in destroying the government’s stockpile of chemical weapons.
Speaking after international monitors had begun work on destroying the stockpile, Kerry stated,
"The process has begun in record time and we are appreciative for the Russian co-operation and obviously for the Syrian compliance."
"I think it's extremely significant that yesterday, Sunday, within a week of the (UN) resolution being passed, some chemical weapons were being destroyed."
"I think it's a credit to the Assad regime, frankly. It's a good beginning and we welcome a good beginning."
He went on to add,
"Now, we hope that will continue. I'm not going to vouch today for what happens months down the road, but it's a good beginning, and we should welcome a good beginning."
Meanwhile speaking with Germany's Spiegel magazine, Assad continued to deny using chemical weapons, stating that US President Barack Obama "presents not a single piece of evidence. Not a shred of evidence."
However he went on to acknowledge that “mistakes” were made in dealing with the uprising, which began as peaceful protests in 2011. Assad said,
"Whenever political decisions are made, mistakes happen... We all make mistakes. Even a president makes mistakes."
"You can't just absolutely say 'they carry 100 percent of the blame and we carry zero'."
The Syrian President though added,
"But basically it's correct that we are defending ourselves... our fundamental decisions were right".