US won’t attack if Syria is ‘honest,’ says Peres

Two days after casting doubt on a Russian-brokered deal that would see Damascus give up its chemical weapons, President Shimon Peres gave a cautious nod to the plan, saying Damascus could avoid US airstrikes if it played its part.

“If Syria is honest and will take real steps to remove and destroy the chemical weapons in its territory, the US will not attack,” Peres said while touring a factory in the north.

“If there will be a crack in Syria’s integrity I have no doubt that the US will act militarily,” he added.

On Monday, Peres cautioned against putting too much stock in the deal, saying “the Syrians are not trustworthy,” and that their acceptance of the Russian proposal meant very little.

On Tuesday evening, US President Barack Obama asked Congress to delay voting on using force against Syria in order to try and pursue a diplomatic solution to the crisis. The American president added Tuesday that should diplomacy fail the US military will “be ready to respond” against the Syrian government.

The Russian proposal, which Damascus agreed to on Tuesday, would put the country’s chemical weapons under international supervision. The regime is accused of using sarin gas to kill over a thousand people outside Damascus on August 21.

The Syrian civil war, which has raged for over two years, has claimed over 100,000 lives, according to the United Nations.

“Syria will not go back to being what it was,” Peres said at the factory.