UN REPORTCONFIRM USE OF SARIN IN DAMASCUS ATTACK

New York, 12 Dzulqa’idah 1434/17 September 2013 ( MINA ) – The report of the United Nations (UN) inspectors team on Monday, indicated that chemical weapons were used on a “relatively large scale” in the Ghouta suburbs of Damascus on August 21.

The environmental, chemical and medical samples provide such evidence that “surface-to-surface rockets containing the nerve agent sarin were used”, Anadolu Agency quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

The UN investigation team headed by Swedish scientist Ake Sellstrom, in its report to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, elaborated on the methods, findings and the conclusions of the UN mission as a aresult of its activities in the Ghouta area of the Syrian capital of Damascus.

The findings, based on the evidence the UN team obtained in the course of its activities in the Ghouta area, provided “clear and convincing evidence that surface-to-surface rockets containing the nerve agent sarin were used in the Ein Tarma, Moadamiyah and Zalmalka in the East Ghouta area of Damascus.”

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The report said the team interviewed more than 50 survivors, medical personnel and first responders, assessing the individuals’ symptoms and collected biomedical samples, including from hair, urine and blood.

The mission also documented and sampled impact sites and munitions, and collected 30 soil and environmental samples – far more than any previous such UN investigation.

According to the report, survivors experienced a range of symptoms, including shortness of breath, disorientation, eye irritation, blurred vision, nausea, vomiting and general weakness, many eventually losing consciousness.

The health workers with whom the UN mission also interviewed, reported seeing a large number of people lying in the streets without external signs of injury, some with laboured breathing, most of them unconscious.

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The environmental and biomedical samples demonstrated the widespread nature of the attacks while 58 per cent of the blood samples tested positive for sarin, said the report

Besides, almost all of the biomedical samples were taken from 34 of the 36 patients who had signs of poisoning, tested positive for exposure to sarin.

Chemical weapons volunteers

Meanwhile in Aleppo, Mohammad Zayed, a former student at Homs University, dedicates his days to teaching volunteers how to help fellow Syrians cope with a chemical weapons attack, Saudi Gazette reports.

“If it’s a sarin attack, you need to open the windows to ventilate the houses. It’s a very lethal gas but it disperses quickly,” says Zayed.

“VX is more dangerous. We cannot take off the protective clothing at any time because it penetrates the body not only through our respiratory system but also through the skin and eyes.”

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Sarin is a paralyzing, odorless agent that can kill in minutes and was developed by Nazi scientists in 1938.

VX is an even more deadly derivative of sarin, while mustard gas causes suffocation and severe burning of the eyes and respiratory system.

Zayed has been training a group of 26 civilians in the hope they can respond to another such attack.

But Zayed main problem is they only have 24 protective suits, which they obtained during a rebel attack against a loyalist army base, and just three gas masks.

“Without masks we won’t be able to do much for people, because even a moist handkerchief to cover the nose and mouth won’t stop the chemical agents,” said Zayed. (T/P09/E1).

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).