Assad vows to hand over arsenal

Syrian president tells US network it will take at least a year and cost $1bn

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad promised on Wednesday that he would surrender Syria's chemical weapons but warned it would take at least a year to do so and would cost $1 billion.

His latest appearance came as UN envoys debated a draft resolution that would enshrine a joint US-Russian plan to secure and neutralize his banned weapons in international law.