Syria’s top rebel commander called Thursday for regime officials to be put on trial for carrying out an alleged chemical attack near Damascus that killed hundreds last month, blasting a Russian proposal for securing the country’s chemical arsenal.

The comments by the head of the Free Syrian Army came as President Bashar Assad told Russian state television his government agreed to surrender its chemical weapons in response to Russia’s initiative and not because of a threatened US attack.

Gen. Salim Idris’ statement was broadcast on pan-Arab satellite channels hours before talks in Geneva between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the Russian proposal.

“We call upon the international community, not only to withdraw the chemical weapons, that were the tool of the crime, but to hold accountable those who committed the crime in front of the International Criminal Court,” Idris said.

He added that the FSA “categorically rejects the Russian initiative” as falling short of the expectations of rebel fighters.

Related report ­ — Page 5