OPCW inspection delayed AGAIN, by gunfire

OPCW Investigators Delay Douma Visit Following Reports Of Gunfire

ZeroHedge,

18 April, 2018

Investigators from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons have delayed their planned visit to Douma, Syria - the site of an alleged gas attack that caused a flareup of tensions between Syria and its western antagonists - after a UN Security Team sent to evaluate the area was confronted by a crowd of violent protesters demanding food and aid.

After the brief confrontation, gunfire ensued, and the inspectors declared that the town was not yet safe to visit, according to RT.

An anonymous source told RT that the advance team had "encountered a security issue" including gunfire, which led to the delay. No further details were disclosed.

The town was recently cleared of terrorists by the Syrian Army, so it's likely that residents who are desperate for food and other assistance were responsible for the gunfire.

In what was a milestone victory, the Syrian Army declared over the weekend that the rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta, the region to which Douma belongs, had been liberated from rebel groups as the last militants fled the area on Saturday.

"All the terrorists have left Douma city, their last bastion in eastern Ghouta," the army statement said.

Syria’s ambassador to the UN said on Tuesday that the fact-finding mission would begin its work in Douma on Wednesdayif the UN security team deemed the situation there safe.

The OPCW team arrived in Damascus over the weekend, but repeated delays of their inspection have ratcheted up diplomatic tensions between Russia, the primary backer of the Syrian regime, and the US. Russia and Syria have denied tampering with the investigation and also denied Western accusations that the regime of Bashar al-Assad was responsible for the gassing of innocent civilians.

Russia's Defense Ministry says it has found proof that the chemical attacks were staged - a fact that has been confirmed by famed war reporter Robert Fisk.

In response to the purported gassing, a US-led coalition launched more than 100 missiles late Friday at what they described as key targets meant to cripple Syria's chemical weapons program.

Meanwhile, a UN source told Reuters that the team probably wouldn't make it to Douma on Wednesday.

Syria - Who Is Stalling The 

OPCW Investigation In 

Douma?

Moon of Alabama,

18 April, 2018

Why has the fact finding mission (FFM)of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) not visited Douma?

The OPCW inspectors are held up by the United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) which has a say about any movement of UN aligned organizations in areas that might be dangerous. The UNDSS is led by an Australian police / intelligence officer. The holdup seems to be intended.

On Sunday April 8 videos were published of an alleged 'chemical attack' in Douma near Damascus. At that time the area was under control of Jaish al-Islam, a Salafi terrorist organization financed by Saudi Arabia. The various videos from terrorist supporters like the 'White Helmets' were unconvincing. They showed obviously arranged scenes of an alleged 'barrel bomb' and manipulated bodies of dead children that had been arranged to superficially fit the claims of a 'chemical incident'. Another video showed people in a hospital being doused with water for no apparent reason.

An often quoted opposition news outlet, the Syrian Observatory in Britain, denied that a 'chemical attack' had happened. It reported on April 8 of suffocation after a shelter collapsed due to bombing:

[I]n among the casualties there are 21 civilians including 9 children and 3 women were killed as a result of suffocation caused by the shelling which destroyed basements of houses as a result of the violence bombardment that stopped about an hour ago on Douma area.

The 'chemical incident' has likely been faked. It suspiciously happened just a few days after U.S. President Trump had announced the he wanted the U.S. military to leave Syria. A year earlier a similar incident was claimed to have happened after a similar announcement by Trump. The U.S. had responded to the 2017 incident by bombing an empty Syrian airfield.

A day after the incident the Salafi terrorists of Jaish al-Islam gave up and left the area under a ceasefire deal arranged with the help of the Russian military in Syria. The ceasefire deal does not allow the Syrian army to enter the area, only the Russian military police is allowed.

Russian military police immediately entered the area and investigated the house where, allegedly, people were killed by 'chemical weapons'. They found no evidence that such an event had taken place. The Syrian government asked the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical aWeapons (OPCW) to investigate the case.

Many international news teams have since visited the area where the incident allegedly took place. The also visited the field hospital shown in one of the opposition videos. Doctors at that hospital deny (vid) that any patient of theirs had been affected by a chemical attack. The cases they had seen had breathing difficulties caused by the inhalation of dust thrown up through exploding bombs and artillery. Alleged 'victims' shown in the hospital video claim (vid) they were paid to perform.

On Friday April 13 the OPCW fact finding mission arrived in Damascus. On Saturday France, the U.K and the United States, (FUKUS), bombed an agricultural and medical research center in Damascus as well as two Syrian army depots. The attack missed its other targets, a failure the U.S. military attempts to cover up. The attack came despite doubts in the Pentagon and elsewhere about what actually happened. High British military generals have publicly doubted the claims of a Syrian 'chemical attack'.

The suburb where the alleged incident happened is only a few miles away from the center of Damascus. Journalists and camera teams walk all over the place without any protection and freely interview hospital personal. The OPCW has yet to reach the area. It claims that the security is insufficient.

Like other organizations aligned with the United Nations the OPCW is relying on the United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) for intelligence and protection.

Yesterday the Director General of the OPCW Ahmet Üzümcü, a Turkish career diplomat who was earlier Turkey's Permanent Representative to NATO, issued a statement:

On 16 April, we received confirmation from the National Authority of the Syrian Arab Republic that, under agreements reached to allow the evacuation of the population in Ghouta, the Syrian military were unable to enter Douma. The security for the sites where the FFM plans to deploy was under the control of the Russian Military Police. The United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) has made the necessary arrangements with the Syrian authorities to escort the team to a certain point and then for the escort to be taken over by the Russian Military Police. However, the UNDSS preferred to first conduct a reconnaissance visit to the sites, which took place yesterday. FFM team members did not participate in this visit.

On arrival at Site 1, a large crowd gathered and the advice provided by the UNDSS was that the reconnaissance team should withdraw. At Site 2, the team came under small arms fire and an explosive was detonated. The reconnaissance team returned to Damascus.

(Note: Only about 10% of the population of the Ghouta area to which Douma belongs, the terrorist and their families, were evacuated. Other people have stayed or returned to the now liberated areas.)

No other organization reported of recent shots or explosions in Douma.

Even the New York Times, a staunch defender of the 'opposition' in Syria, wonders about the hold-up but does not bother to answer the question:

[T]he fact that journalists had been able to wander around Douma unmolested raised questions about why it was not deemed safe enough for the investigators to visit.

Why were, allegedly, shots fired at the UN Security team but not on anyone else visiting the area?

If, as the terrorist supporters claim, Chlorine was used in the 'chemical attack', the OSCE investigators are unlikely to find any physical evidence of it. Chlorine dissipates and leaves no unique traces in the dead body. Interviews with local witnesses though could be of value.

One gets the impression that certain circles fear the the OPCW could reach the area, talk to witnesses and confirm the claims made by doctors in the hospital as well as by many journalists that no 'chemical attack' took place. It would expose the attack on Syria as a reckless and unjustified war crime.

The leader of the UNDSS is an Australian police commander:

Mr. Drennan, who from 2009 served as Deputy Commissioner National Security with the Australian Federal Police, brings to the position an extensive career in policing and law enforcement at the community, national and international levels.

Is it possible that a distinguished Australian police commander delays or prevents the OPCW investigation to protect the British and U.S. allies?

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Previous Moon of Alabama posts on the 'chemical attack' in Douma and its consequences.

April 8	-	Syria - Timelines Of 'Gas Attacks' Follow A Similar Scheme (Update II)
April 9	-	Syria - Any U.S. Strike Will Lead to Escalation
April 11	-	Syria - A U.S. Attack Would Be Futile - But Serve A Purpose - by M. K. Bhadrakumar
April 11	-	Trump Asks Russia To Roll Over - It Won't
April 12	-	Syria - Threat Of Large War Recedes But May Come Back
April 13	-	Syria - Manipulated Videos Fail To Launch World War III - Updated
April 14	-	F.U.K.U.S. Strikes Syria - Who Won?
April 16	-	Syria - Pentagon Hides Attack Failure - 70+ Cruise Missiles Shot Down