Syria hands over list of chemical arms stockpile

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons announced that Syria has handed over a list of what it says is its chemical arms stockpile.

"The Technical Secretariat is currently reviewing the information received," said the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

The handover occurred a day before the organization is to meet at The Hague in the Netherlands to discuss Syria.

The timing also meets the terms set in a deal forged last week between the United States and Russia in Geneva to begin destroying Syria's chemical arsenal.

The normal 60-day process for declaring arms was expedited to seven days "because of the extraordinary concern about Syria's weapons," said Michael Luhan, a spokesman for the organization.

"We have to go through it in detail and plan how to conduct the on-the-ground inspection mission, to verify the accuracy of the declaration and put seals on all the materials to make sure they are secure."

The stakes over halting the Syrian civil war heightened after an August 21 chemical weapons attack outside Damascus that U.S. officials estimate killed 1,400 people.

The United States and other Western nations blame the regime for the attack. Russia and Syria say they think rebels used the weapons.

Speaking ahead of next week's U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday that while "the complete removal of Syria's chemical weapons is possible here, through peaceful means," urgency is needed.

The U.N. Security Council must be prepared to act next week, Kerry said, citing a U.N. chemical weapons report about the attack.