‘WE DEMAND TO SEE VICTIMS OF SYRIA GAS ATTACK’
▶ WHO says plan to help people of Douma recover is urgent; Assad put on 72-hour notice of military action
The World Health Organisation yesterday demanded immediate access to the victims of Saturday’s chemical attack in Syria, as the Kremlin urged countries to avoid taking action that could further destabilise the country.
“We should all be outraged at these horrific reports and images from Douma,” said Peter Salama, the UN agency’s chief of emergency response.
“The WHO demands immediate, unhindered access to the area to provide care to those affected, to assess the health impacts and to deliver a comprehensive public health response.”
Local health organisations said that about 500 people taken to medical centres showed symptoms consistent with exposure to toxic chemicals.
“There were signs of severe irritation of the mucous membranes, respiratory failure and disruption to central nervous systems of those exposed,” the WHO said.
The US, Britain and France said the attack bears all the hallmarks of a strike ordered by the government of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.
Russia, the major ally to Mr Al Assad, yesterday urged restraint in Syria as the US threatened missile strikes in response to the chemical attacks.
“As before, we would hope that all sides will avoid steps that in reality are not provoked by anything and that could destabilise the already fragile situation in the region,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “The situation is tense.”
Mr Peskov said that Russia was calling for an “unprejudiced and objective investigation before making judgments” on the use of chemical weapons.
On Tuesday at the UN Security Council, Russia vetoed a US-drafted resolution on setting up a panel to identify who was responsible for the toxic gas attacks after chemical weapons were used in the rebel-held town of Douma, in Eastern Ghouta.
Russia has said its military specialists found no evidence of a chemical attack on Saturday and suggested that rebels staged or spread rumours of an attack to implicate the government.
Mr Al Assad has been blamed by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and UN-backed investigators for chemical attacks before.
Meanwhile, air traffic management organisation Eurocontrol on Tuesday warned airlines in the eastern Mediterranean to be alert for air strikes.
“Due to the possible launch of air strikes into Syria with air-toground and/or cruise missiles within the next 72 hours, and the possibility of intermittent disruption of radio navigation equipment, due consideration needs to be taken when planning flight operations in the Eastern Mediterranean-Nicosia FIR area,” Eurocontrol said.
Aviation regulators in many countries have issued warnings to airlines entering Syrian airspace. Most carriers avoid the area.
The Eurocontrol statement included a broader area outside the airspace controlled by Damascus.
The Nicosia region covers Cyprus and surrounding waters, according to a map on the agency’s website. The map did not designate any territory as being the “Eastern Mediterranean” region.
There has been heightened awareness by regulators and airlines of the risks that conflict zones pose to commercial jets since Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down by a surface-to-air missile over Ukraine in 2014, killing all 298 people on board.
Last year, North Korea tested missiles without warning, leading some airlines to reroute flights to avoid parts of the Sea of Japan.