UN watchdog to probe Syria chemical attack

beirut — The international chemical weapons watchdog said on Tuesday it will send a factfinding mission to the Syrian town where a suspected gas attack took place over the weekend, after receiving a request from the Syrian government and its Russian backers to investigate the allegations.

In a statement, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said a fact-finding team is “preparing to deploy to Syria shortly”. It was not immediately clear whether the announcement would avert US military action against Syria. President Donald Trump has vowed to respond “forcefully” to Saturday’s attack on civilians in the town of Douma, in the eastern Ghouta suburbs, and warned that Russia — or any other nation found to share responsibility — will “pay a price”.

Trump on Tuesday cancelled plans to travel to South America later this week, choosing to stay in the United States to manage the response to the events in Syria.

Syrian government forces were on high alert and taking precautionary measures on Tuesday at military positions across the country amid fears of a US strike. —

beirut — President Bashar Al Assad’s government has invited international inspectors to send a team to Syria to investigate an alleged chemical attack in the town of Douma in a move apparently aimed at averting possible Western military action over the incident.

At least 60 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured in Saturday’s the suspected attack on Douma, then still occupied by rebel forces, according to a Syrian relief group.

United States President Donald Trump on Monday warned of a quick, forceful response once responsibility was established, although he appeared to have little doubt it was the work of Assad’s Russian-backed forces.

The Syrian government and Russia said there was no evidence that a gas attack had taken place and the claim was bogus.

The incident has thrust Syria’s seven-year-old conflict back to the forefront of international concern. Trump will miss a Latin American summit in Peru this week in order to focus on the crisis, the White House said. Adding to the volatile situation, Iran, Assad’s main ally along with Russia, threatened to respond to an air strike on a Syrian military base on Monday that Tehran, Damascus and Moscow have blamed on Israel.

Meanwhile on the ground, thousands of militants and their families arrived in rebel-held northwestern Syria after surrendering Douma to government forces.

The evacuation deal restores Assad’s control over the entire eastern Ghouta - formerly the biggest rebel bastion near Damascus.

The Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is already at work trying to establish what exactly took place in Douma.

But whether a team would try to get there was unclear.

OPCW inspectors have been attacked on two previous missions to the sites of chemical weapons at- tacks in Syria. “Syria is keen on cooperating with the OPCW to uncover the truth behind the allegations that some Western sides have been advertising to justify their aggressive intentions,” state news agency Sana said, quoting an official Foreign Ministry source. In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Kremlin would submit a resolution to the UN Security Council proposing that the OPCW investigate the alleged attack.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said there was no threat of the situation in Syria resulting in a military clash between Russia and the US States. —