Chemical weapons investigators fear Russian tampering in Syria

Team isn’t allowed to see site of alleged attack, controlled by Moscow

BEIRUT— Chemical weapons inspectors in Syria said Monday that they suspected the site of an alleged chemical attack had been tampered with, as progovernment media broadcast interviews with doctors from the area saying that no such assault had occurred and the victims they treated were suffering from asthma.

A team with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) arrived in Damascus on Saturday at the invitation of the government to investigate the alleged chemical attack, which prompted U.S.led strikes against Syrian chemical weapons facilities over the weekend. Two days later, the fact-finding team said it has still not been granted permission by Syrian authorities to visit Douma, the town in the Eastern Ghouta suburbs of Damascus where the attack is said to have taken place.

The U.S. ambassador to the OPCW, Kenneth Ward, said there were suspicions that Russia, a longtime ally of the Syrian government, may have tampered with the evidence.

“It is our understanding the Russians may have visited the attack site. We are concerned they may have tampered with it with the intent of thwarting the efforts of the OPCW FactFinding Mission to conduct an effective investigation,” Ward said in comments at a closed-door meeting of the OPCW in The Hague, later made public.

“Unfettered access essential. Russia & Syria must cooperate,” tweeted the account of the British team with the OPCW, expressing concern that access to Douma was being denied.

According to OPCW directorgeneral Ahmet Uzumcu, Syrian and Russian officials have cited “security issues” for the refusal to allow the team to visit the town. Instead, he said, the team members have been told that they can interview 22 witnesses who will be brought to Damascus by the authorities.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters that Russian troops had found no evidence of a chemical attack.