Hollande, Obama hold phone talk on Moscow's diplomatic initiative on Syria

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PARIS, Sept. 10 -- French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday had a phone conversation with his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama over Russia's proposal to place Syrian chemical arms under international control and to ensure their "total" and "effective" destruction, a French Presidency statement said.

Hollande and Obama, who pressed to launch strikes to punish Syrian forces for allegedly using deadly gas against civilians, "agreed to work closely and to examine with the greatest attention, the relevancy of the Russian proposal ..."

The two leaders said considering a political alternative to end the Syrian crisis but that all options remained open, including military intervention.

Earlier on Tuesday, France said to put forward a draft resolution at the UN Security Council setting out conditions to dismantle Syrian stocks of chemical arms stocks and "extremely serious consequences for violation of Syria's commitment."

According to earlier reports, the UN Security Council was scheduled to hold an emergency closed-door meeting on Syria at 2000 GMT.

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