Keep military option open on Syria: NATO chief

Agreement between the U.S. and Russia over eliminating Syria's chemical weapons cannot be reached without "the credible threat of military action"., says Rasmussen

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Thursday the military option should remain open to ensure Syria keep its promise to eliminate chemical weapons.

"I think it is essential to keep momentum in the diplomatic and political process that the military option is still on the table," Rasmussen said at an event organized by the think-tank Carnegie Europe in Brussels.

Rasmussen said the agreement between the U.S. and Russia over eliminating Syria's chemical weapons cannot be reached without "the credible threat of military action".

He added that it was crucial that the U.N. Security Council expeditiously adopts a resolution to ensure a "swift, secure and verifiable elimination of Syria's substantial stocks of chemical weapons."

He described the use of chemical weapons as a crime.

The international community, he said, has a duty to hold those responsible to account.