U.N. says Syria mum on chemical arms

UNITED NATIONS — Syria’s failure to answer questions from the international chemical-weapons watchdog about its chemical weapons program “remains a source of very deep concern,” the U.N. secretary-general wrote in a letter circulated Friday.

While the Syrian government partially addressed some questions raised by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Antonio Guterres said “other questions regrettably remain unanswered.”

In his letter, which transmitted the watchdog’s latest report to the Security Council, Guterres said he continues to urge Syria to resolve all outstanding issues.

Watchdog Director-General Ahmet Uzumcu said in the report that he has repeated his requests to Syrian authorities that unanswered questions about its declarations of chemical weapons “remain and require a response.”

Guterres said “the profoundly alarming allegations” of chemical-weapons use in the Damascus suburb of Douma on April 7 further underline the need for a new body to determine responsibility for chemical attacks.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said Friday that its fact-finding mission to Douma took back samples for analysis at watchdog-designated laboratories — a process that could take at least three to four weeks.

Its inspectors are only mandated to establish whether a chemical weapon was used, not to apportion blame.

AP/MARINA LYSTSEVA Russian military helicopters fly over the Kremlin complex Friday during a rehearsal for Wednesday’s Victory Day parade to mark 73 years since Russia’s victory in World War II.