JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The Syrian government is still in full control of its chemical weapons stockpiles, Israeli defense officials said on Tuesday, in an apparent bid to calm fears that a non-conventional war could be looming. Syria's 16-month-old conflict has spread concern that the chemical arsenal, acknowledged by Damascus for the first time on Monday, could fall into the hands of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Islamist group allied to Iran and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, or that Assad could use then in a desperate last stand. ...

Read more ....