A Syrian official says awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to the global chemical watchdog underscores ``the credibility'' of the Damascus government and its intentions to destroy its toxic arsenal.

Fayez Sayegh, a lawmaker and member of President Bashar Assad's ruling Baath party, says the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons should work to rid the entire Middle East _ including Israel _ of weapons of mass destruction.

Sayegh told The Associated Press shortly after the Nobel announcement was made in Oslo on Friday that he hopes the OPCW ``wins more Nobel prizes for peace'' in the future. 

He says Syria is ``giving an example to countries that have chemical and nuclear weapons.''

The U.N. has mandated the OPCW to rid Syria of its stockpile of chemical weapons by mid-2014. (AP)