‘Security issues’ keep out inspectors

The head of the international chemical weapons watchdog says Syrian and Russian officials are citing “pending security issues” in keeping its inspectors from reaching the site of an alleged gas attack.

Ahmet Uzumcu, the director-general of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), said “the team has not yet deployed to Douma”, two days after arriving in Syria.

He told an executive council of the OPCW that Syrian and Russian officials who took part in meetings in Damascus told the team “that there were still pending security issues to be worked out before any deployment could take place”.

Mr Uzumcu said Syrian authorities were offering 22 people to interview as witnesses instead. He said he hoped “all necessary arrangements will be made ... to allow the team to deploy to Douma as soon as possible”.

Syrian opposition activists say a chemical attack by government forces in Douma on 7 April killed more than 40 people.