Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, said he will destroy his country's chemical weapons. He told reporters that it might take one year to do this. Mr Assad said it was a complicated operation and needed lots of money, maybe about $1 billion. He said it was bad for the environment, but America could pay and take the responsibility of taking the poisonous chemicals to the U.S. America wants Syria to agree to a United Nations plan that includes American military action if Syria does not keep its promise. However, Russia said no to this idea.

President Assad told the world that rebels attacked Damascus with chemical weapons last month. America says Syria's army used the sarin gas, not the rebels. Mr Assad said America was wrong. Russia says America cannot prove this. Russia's foreign minister said he has information to show the rebels were part of the sarin attack. Mr Assad said the rebels could have used the gas. He said: "Sarin gas is called kitchen gas because anybody can make sarin in his house. Any rebel can make sarin." He said Syria was in "a new kind of war" because fighters from over 80 countries have joined the rebels.