Russian Foreign Ministry says chemical weapons inspectors have left for Syria's Douma.
MOSCOW — Chemical weapons inspectors have left for Syria’s Douma, the site of an alleged chemical weapons attack that prompted a retaliatory missile strike by the U. S., U. K. and France, Russia’s Foreign Ministry says. The team from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons — OPCW — left Damascus for Douma on Saturday, the ministry said, BBC News reports.
The team had been delayed for several days in its attempts to reach Douma. In a statement Saturday, ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova decried the delay as «unacceptable.»
Security concerns this week had been keeping international experts from inspecting the site of the suspected chemical attack that led to Western airstrikes against the Syrian government last weekend, CBS News’ Seth Doane reported. An advance security team from the United Nations withdrew from Douma after coming under small arms fire on Tuesday at one of the sites destined for inspection. There was also a small explosion at the site. That further delayed the international weapons inspectors, who arrived in Damascus last weekend to try to determine what happened on April 7.
Western nations accuse Syria’s government of mounting a chemical attack on the town on 7 April, killing more than 40 people. But Syria and Russia, whose forces in Syria back President Bashar Assad’s army, deny the allegation.
CBS News’ Doane and his team were allowed access to the site the weapons experts have been trying to reach. On a visit facilitated by the Syrian government, they found Douma peaceful. People were out on the streets, and starting to clean up.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
