Concrete efforts are on to get the chemical weapons out of Syria, US President Barack Obama has said while expressing satisfaction over the progress being made in this regard by the United Nations.
"We have been pleased to see not only the UN resolution, but also now the concrete efforts to get chemical weapons out of Syria," Obama told reporters at the White House in a joint briefing with visiting Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta.
Italy has been very supportive of that effort, he said.
"Italy has been a contributor to the humanitarian efforts there (Syria), and we want to partner with them to find ways to not only relieve the suffering, but also to implement a political transition that can allow people to return to their homes and end the killing that's been taking place there," Obama said.
Obama said they also discussed the situation in Libya and both countries share an interest in finding ways in which they can help the Libyans move forward.
"On Libya, we agreed that we want to continue to work with other international partners to strengthen the security capacity of the Libyan government," he said.
"There's enormous potential and hope for the Libyan people, but what they need now is a government that is representative and inclusive, and can provide the basic security as well as the basic services that will help the Libyan people achieve that potential," Obama said.
Letta said there is a problem of failed state in Africa.
"We have a problem of failed states in Africa. We have to help them, and first of all Libya, of course. We have to work together on Syria to apply the resolution as soon as possible. And we want to have Geneva II as soon as possible," he said.
