President Assad denies claims his forces have used
chemical weapons
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has raised the
possibility of Germany acting as a mediator to try
to end his country's 30-month-long civil war.
Speaking to Germany's Der Spiegel magazine, Mr
Assad said he "would be delighted if envoys came from
Germany".
But he stressed that Damascus would not negotiate
with rebels unless they laid down their weapons.
Mr Assad again denied claims that his troops had used
chemical weapons, blaming the rebels instead.
In the interview to be published on Monday, Mr Assad
said that US President Barack Obama had "not even a
whisper of proof" that Damascus had used chemical
weapons.
"He has nothing to offer other than lies."
He contrasted Washington's stance with that of
Moscow, describing the Russians as "true friends".
'More questions'
The interview comes just days after a team given the
job of eliminating Syria's chemical weapons said it had
made "encouraging initial progress" after talks with
government officials.
UN-backed experts from the Organisation for the
Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said Syrian
documents handed over last Wednesday "looked
promising".
The team said analysis of technical diagrams would be
necessary and "more questions remain to be
answered".
Onsite inspections and arms disabling are scheduled to
start next week.
Concerted international action to disarm Syria of its
chemical weapons was agreed by the UN Security
Council last month.
Its resolution was based on an earlier deal reached by
the United States and Russia in Geneva.
The US had threatened military action to punish the
Syrian government over a nerve agent attack in Ghouta
on the outskirts of Damascus on 21 August.
The Americans said more than 1,400 people were
killed. Russia and Syria believe rebel groups were
responsible for the attack.
Syria's chemical weapons arsenal is believed to include
more than 1,000 tonnes of the nerve gas sarin, the
blister agent sulphur mustard and other banned
chemicals stored at dozens of sites.
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