Syria on Friday delivered an initial statement of its chemical weapon inventory to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), following the timetable set out by the United States and Russia.
The report is "being reviewed by our verification division," OPCW spokesman Michael Luhan said in a statement. He did not release details of the report.
Meanwhile, without explanation, the OPCW has indefinitely postponed a Sunday meeting of its Executive Council, which had been scheduled to discuss how to dismantle Syria's chemical weapons program.
Last Saturday, the United States and Russia agreed on a plan to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons, asking Syria to submit a "comprehensive listing" of its chemical weapons stockpiles within one week.
On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the confronting sides in Syria should find a peaceful way out of the crisis through mediation of the international community.
At an international forum on Russia's role in the world, Putin took Iraq and Libya as examples of consequences of ill-planned foreign intervention into a country's domestic conflict, urging western countries not to ignore proposals from Russia.
Also Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the UN Security Council must be prepared to draw up a "binding" resolution on Syria's chemical weapons program.
Kerry made the statement after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia possesses enough evidence that the Syrian opposition used reports about chemical attacks to provoke foreign intervention.
Syria is officially to become an OPCW member on Oct. 14. The Hague-based UN partner is responsible for the implementation and supervision of the international Chemical Weapons Convention.
In the latest interview with Fox News of the United States, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad stressed commitment to the chemical weapon treaty, saying that it would cost 1 billion U.S. dollars and take roughly one year to destroy his country's chemical weapon stockpiles.
Damascus has rejected Washington's accusation that the government troops gassed civilians with nerve agents during an attack on Aug. 21 near Damascus. Pointing finger at the rebels, the Syrian government said it has evidence that could incriminate them.
