Inspectors return

UN inspectors to look into other allegations of poison gas attacks

UN inspectors have returned to Syria to pursue a probe into alleged poison gas attacks

DAMASCUS: UN inspectors were returning to Syria to pursue a probe into alleged poison gas attacks, as Russia and the West wrangled over how to strip Bashar al-Assad of banned chemical weapons.

The group, led by chief expert Ake Sellstrom, arrived in Beirut en route back to Damascus, an airport source said.

US President Barack Obama on Tuesday demanded tough Security Council action against Syria as the conflict there dominated debate at the annual UN General Assembly.

Sellstrom’s team is expected to examine the alleged use of chemical weapons some 14 times in the 30-month conflict that is estimated to have killed more than 110,000 people.

After a preliminary visit last month, the team concluded in a report presented on Sept 16 that banned chemical weapons had been used on a wide scale.

There was clear evidence that sarin gas was used in an attack in the Eastern Ghouta neighbourhood near Damascus on Aug 21, the report said.

Sellstrom pointed out that the report was only an interim document, and that other allegations needed to be looked into.

“There have been other accusations presented to the UN secretarygeneral, dating back to March, against both sides” in the conflict, he said earlier this month.

There were “13, 14 accusations” that “have to be investigated”.

Sellstrom said the team hoped to be able to present a final report addressing all of the accusations “possibly by the end of October”.

Last month’s attack, which the Syrian opposition and some parts of the international community blame on the regime, prompted Washington to threaten military action against Damascus.

President Assad’s government denies using chemical weapons against its own people, and has agreed to a US-Russian plan that will see it hand over its chemical arsenal for destruction.

The deal headed off US military action, but Syrian regime ally Russia is still wrangling with Britain, France and the United States over the wording of a UN resolution enshrining the accord.

Obama told world leaders that Washington was ready to “use all elements of our power, including military force” in the Middle East to defend “core interests” such as ensuring oil supplies and eradicating weapons of mass destruction.

And he insisted international credibility was at stake after the Aug 21 chemical attack.

“There must be a strong Security Council resolution to verify that the Assad regime is keeping its commitments, and there must be consequences if they fail to do so,” Obama said. — AFP