OPCW
confirms visit to site of alleged chemical attack in Syria
RT,
21
April, 2018
The
OPCW confirmed that a team visited the site in Douma where an alleged
chemical attack took place. The Russian Foreign Ministry has voiced
concerns about the watchdog’s plans to visit fewer sites and speak
to fewer witnesses.
On
Saturday the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
(OPCW) confirmed on Twitter that its fact-finding mission team
“visited
one of the sites” in
Douma “to
collect samples for analysis in connection with allegations of
chemical weapons use on 7 April 2018.”
2:49 AM - 22 Apr 2018
The
collected samples will be sent to OPCW's laboratory in Rijswijk,
Netherlands and then “dispatched for analysis to the OPCW’s
designated labs,” the mission said in a statement.
The
watchdog said it would "evaluate
the situation and consider future steps including another possible
visit to Douma."
The
OPCW team departed for the city in Eastern Ghouta 11 days after
Damascus sent a formal request to the watchdog to inspect the area,
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
“Such
delays in such a resonating case, regardless of the motives, are
unacceptable, since not only the Syrian side but the Russian military
[stationed in Syria] guaranteed the security of the OPCW team,” she
stated.
Moscow
expects the OPCW to investigate the alleged chemical incident
impartially. However, the mission’s plans to visit fewer sites
linked to the purported attack and interview fewer witnesses
raises “serious
concerns,” Zakharova
said. According to the spokeswoman, these plans only“demonstrate
the unwillingness to shed light on yet another staged provocation
with the use of chemicals, which served as a reason for the missile
strike” by
the US, UK, and France.
The
fact-finding mission faced a series of security-related setbacks in
its attempts to reach Douma. On Wednesday, the OPCW confirmed that
its mission to Douma was delayed from entering the city after a UN
security team came under “small
arms fire.” Contrary
to a US claim, the watchdog didn’t say that the delay was caused by
Russia or Syria. Washington had previously accused Damascus and
Moscow of blocking the fact-finding team from reaching the city.
The
OPCW team’s arrival in Douma was postponed on April 14 after the
US, UK, and France unleashed a bombing campaign on Syria. The
airstrikes were carried out in response to the alleged gas attack in
Douma on April 7, which the West blamed on Bashar Assad’s
government. The operation started hours before the team was due to
reach the city.
Last Saturday, Syrian defenses were scrambled to repel 103 cruise missiles and air-surface missiles launched at civilian and military targets by the Western trio. It managed to intercept at least 71 of them, the Russian Defense Ministry said at the time.
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