President Obama "could pause Syria attack plans"

US President Barack Obama has said he will put plans for a United States military strike against Syria on hold if the country agrees to place its chemical weapons under international control. On Monday, Russia proposed Syria relinquish its chemical weapons to the international community and have them destroyed, in an attempt to avoid a US military strike. In a series of interviews with different television networks on Monday, Barack Obama maintained a military strike is needed to punish President Bashar Al Assad's regime for the use of chemical weapons, but added: "That is in our national security interest, if we can do that without a military strike, that is overwhelmingly my preference". Asked on ABC News if he would put his plans for an attack on hold should Mr Assad hand over control of his regimes chemical weapons stockpiles, Mr Obama responded: "Absolutely, if in fact that happened". But the President said he was "skeptical" of Syria'a apparent interest in handing over control of its chemical weapons, telling NBC News because "this is not how we've seen them operate over the last couple of years".