Destruction of chemical weapons only positive note in Syria: US senators

Washington: The chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee says progress toward destroying Syria’s chemical weapons is “the only positive note” in the worsening crisis in the Mideast nation. [caption id=“attachment_1205117” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption]

Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez made the comment as he opened a committee hearing Thursday. He referred to a report from a chemical weapons watchdog that Syria has destroyed critical equipment for producing such munitions. But Menendez lamented the worsening humanitarian crisis caused by the war now in its third year and he said that a lack of progress on a negotiated political settlement portends continued bloodshed and suffering. He and other lawmakers told Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford that they do not believe the Obama administration has a strategy for dealing with the conflict. AP