UN: Chemical Weapons Investigators to Visit Syria Imminently

Local Editor

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday that experts will travel to Syria imminently to investigate claims of chemical weapons use.

The United Nations said two weeks ago that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government had agreed to let the inspectors, led by Swedish scientist Ake Sellstrom, travel to three sites where chemical weapons were reported to have been used.

Ban's press office said in a statement on Wednesday that the Syrian government had now "formally accepted the modalities essential for cooperation to ensure the proper, safe and efficient conduct of the mission."

"The departure of the team is now imminent," it said. "As agreed with the government of Syria, the team will remain in the country to conduct its activities, including on-site visits, for a period of up to 14 days, extendable upon mutual consent."

The United Nations said Sellstrom's team had completed their trip preparations in The Hague last weekend.
One site to be visited by the UN experts is Khan al-Assal in Aleppo, where the armed groups used chemical weapons in March. The other two locations have not yet been identified.
The United Nations said it has received 13 reports of possible chemical weapons use - one from Syria's government and the rest mainly from Britain, France and the United States.

The UN inquiry will try to establish only whether chemical weapons were used, not who used them.
Ban appointed Sellstrom in March to lead a UN inquiry into the claims of chemical weapons use, but diplomatic wrangling and concerns over safety have prevented the team of experts from entering Syria.
"The Secretary-General believes that an effective mechanism to investigate allegations of the use of chemical weapons can serve as an important deterrent against their employment," Ban's press office said.

Sellstrom's team is made up of experts from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the World Health Organization.

Source: News agencies, Edited by website team