A visit by international chemical weapons inspectors to the location of a suspected poison gas attack in the Syrian town of Douma has been delayed due to gunfire during a visit by a UN security team, sources have told Reuters.
Syrian state media reported Tuesday that inspectors from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons had entered Douma, but Syria’s UN ambassador, Bashar Ja’afari, later said only a UN advance security team had entered.
The team was tasked with assessing the situation ahead of the planned visit by inspectors, said the sources, who had been briefed on the team’s deployment.
One source told Reuters the advance team had “encountered a security issue,” including gunfire, but could not provide additional details. Another said they had been met by protesters demanding aid, and gunfire was heard. The UN team then left.
Ja’afari said on Tuesday the fact-finding mission would begin its work in Douma on Wednesday if the UN security team deemed the situation there safe.
But a UN source said separately that the OPCW inspectors would probably not be going to Douma on Wednesday.
Timing of visit unclear
The UN source did not say when the inspectors might visit the site. The inspectors arrived in Damascus last weekend.
The suspected chemical attack on April 7 has been blamed on the deaths of dozens of people in Douma, medical relief organizations say. It led to the rebel group that controlled Douma agreeing to surrender control of the town to the Syrian government.
The government and its Russian allies say the attack was fabricated as a pretext to justify military strikes that were launched on Saturday by the United States, Britain and France.
Kahled Mahmoud Nuseir, 25, lost his pregnant wife, Fatmeh Karout, and two young daughters during the alleged chemical weapons attack earlier this month. (Hassan Ammar/Associated Press)
France has said it was likely that evidence of the chemical attack was disappearing before the inspectors could reach the town.
The United States accused Russia on Monday of blocking international inspectors from reaching the site of the suspected poison gas attack in Syria, and said Russians or Syrians may have tampered with evidence on the ground.
Moscow denied the charge and blamed delays on retaliatory U.S.-led missile strikes on Syria for the delay.