SYRIA ALLOWS UN MISSION TO INVESTIGATE CHEMICAL ATTACK
Istanbul, 19 Shawwal 1434/26 August 2013 (MINA) – Syria has allowed a UN mission to investigate claims of chemical weapons use in a deadly attack near its capital on Wednesday.
The UN team has been on the ground for the past week, waiting for a green light from the Syrian government to go to the Ghouta region where an apparent chemical weapons attack killed at least 1,300, Anadolu Agency quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA) as reporting, Monday.
Syria’s state news agency SANA said Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallim and UN disarmament chief Angela Kane agreed on allowing the inspection team to visit Ghouta.
Syrian officials and the UN delegation would meet again to set a date for the visit, SANA said.
Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius stated Syrian President Bashar Assad should allow the international committees to investigate and prepare a report in East Ghouta region of Syria.
“If Assad did not use chemical weapons, he shall allow the UN team to investigate the Ghouta incidents,” Fabius said in a joint press conference with Palestinian Prime Minister Rami al-Hamdallah.
He stressed that France’s approach did not change against the Assad regime.
“All the information we have are in the direction of chemical weapon attack which was organized in Damascus. Nobody can remain unresponsive against this massacre.”
On Wednesday, Syrian opposition coalition blamed the Syrian regime forces of carrying out a chemical weapon attack in suburbs of capital Damascus which it said killed at least 1,300 people.
But the Syrian regime strongly denied the claim and described reports and figures as “lies and groundless,” saying reports were aimed at “distracting a visiting team of United Nations chemical weapons experts from their mission.”
A UN investigation team is currently in Syria to investigate earlier an allegation of use of chemical weapons reported by the Syrian government at Khan al-Assal as well as two other allegations reported by UN Security Council member states. (T/P09/E1).
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).
