Chemical weapons experts will arrive in Douma on Wednesday to investigate an alleged poison gas attack, Russia said, as the US voiced fears Moscow may already have “tampered with” evidence at the site.
Russia and the Syrian regime have been accused by western diplomats of denying chemical weapons inspectors access to sites in the town of Douma, where an attack killed dozens and prompted US-led missile strikes over the weekend.
Russia and Syria had cited “pending security issues” before inspectors could deploy to the town outside Damascus, said Ahmet Üzümcü, the director general of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), at a meeting of its executive council on Monday.
Syrian authorities were offering 22 people to interview as witnesses instead, he said, adding that he hoped “all necessary arrangements will be made … to allow the team to deploy to Douma as soon as possible”.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration delayed action on sanctions against Russians suspected of helping Syria’s chemical weapons programme, contradicting remarks on Sunday by the US envoy to the UN, Nikki Haley.
At the meeting on Monday, the OPCW director general, Ahmet Üzümcü, said his team of nine volunteers had reached Damascus but so far “the team has not yet deployed to Douma”. Syrian and Russian officials had warned of “pending security issues to be worked out before any deployment could take place”, Üzümcü said.
The US ambassador to the OPCW, Ken Ward, claimed the Russians had already visited the site and “may have tampered with it with the intent of thwarting the efforts of the OPCW fact-finding mission”. The Kremlin dismissed the claims. “I can guarantee that Russia has not tampered with the site,” said the foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov.
Syrian state media early on Tuesday said air defence had shot down missiles over the central province of Homs, with the strikes reportedly targeting regime air bases. It was not known who carried out the attack, with the Pentagon spokeswoman Heather Babb saying: “There are no US or coalition operations in that area.”
For more read the full of article at The Guardian
