Sept 14 | Sat Sep 14, 2013 7:08pm EDT
Sept 14 (Reuters) - Here is a snapshot of Reuters news about the crisis in Syria:
HEADLINES:
* The United States and Russia agreed on a proposal to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons arsenal, averting the possibility of immediate U.S. military action against President Bashar al-Assad's government. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced the agreement after nearly three days of talks in Geneva.
* President Barack Obama welcomed a U.S.-Russian accord on aimed at getting control of Syrian chemical weapons and warned that if diplomacy fails, the United States remains prepared to act.
* The deal over Syria's chemical weapons will afford Assad months to "delay and deceive" while more die in that country's war, senior Republican senators John McCain and Lindsay Graham said.
* A report by U.N. chemical weapons experts will likely confirm that poison gas was used in an Aug. 21 attack on Damascus suburbs that killed hundreds of people, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday. The report was expected to be presented to Ban over the weekend, diplomats said.
* Syrian warplanes struck rebel-held suburbs of the capital on Saturday and government forces clashed with insurgents on the frontlines, residents and opposition activists said.
* Assad's forces have started moving some of their chemical weapons to Lebanon and Iraq in the last few days to evade a possible U.N. inspection, said Syrian rebel military leader General Selim Idris.
QUOTES:
"There's no diminution of options." - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry
"There (is) nothing said about the use of force and not about any automatic sanctions." - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
"Let the Kerry-Lavrov plan go to hell. We reject it and we will not protect the inspectors or let them enter Syria." - Qassim Saadeddine, an official of the opposition Syrian Supreme Military Council.
EVENTS:
U.N. experts studying chemical weapons use in Syria were expected to present their findings this weekend to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
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