France: Syria must commit immediately to destruction of chemical arms

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius insisted Monday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "commit himself without delay" to the elimination of his country's chemical weapons arsenal. "The proposal of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov merits close examination," Fabius said, demanding that Assad "commit himself without delay to put his chemical arsenal under international control and to let all of it be destroyed." Fabius also demanded that those behind the alleged August 21 chemical attack that killed hundreds outside Damascus be tried by the International Criminal Court.