UN says inspectors 'shot at' in Damascus
Team "deliberately shot at multiple times by unidentified snipers" while en
route to alleged chemical-attack site.
Last Modified: 26 Aug 2013 11:42
Unidentified snipers in Syria have shot at and damaged a vehicle being used by
UN chemical weapons investigators trying to reach the site of a suspected
poison gas attack, according to a UN spokesman.
Monday's incident took place in Damascus amid a ceasefire in the nearby eastern
Ghouta area, approved by both the Syrian government and armed rebels.
"The first vehicle of the investigation team was deliberately shot at multiple
times by unidentified snipers in the buffer-zone area," the UN spokesman said,
adding that the car was no longer serviceable and a replacement vehicle was
being obtained.
The visit follows calls from Western powers for military action to punish Syria
for the incident and statements from the US and its Western allies claiming
that potential evidence in the area has probably been destroyed by heavy
government shelling over the past five days.
The six-car convoy of chemical-weapons experts wearing blue UN body armour was
accompanied by a car of security forces as well as an ambulance.
The alleged chemical-weapons attack in Ghouta on Wednesday killed 355 people
and wounded hundreds more, according to the aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres.
The UN announced on Sunday that the Syrian government and rebels had agreed to
observe a ceasefire during the visit.
It said the rebels and government were responsible for the safety of the
inspectors on the ground.
The agreement between the Syrian foreign minister and the head of the UN
delegation "is effective immediately and it will allow UN delegation to
investigate allegations of using chemical weapons on August 22 in Damascus
suburbs", Syrian state TV reported.
On the diplomatic front, Francois Hollande, the French president, told his US
counterpart Barack Obama over a phone conversation on Sunday that "everything
was consistent" with the conclusion that Damascus was behind the attack.
"The two presidents agreed to stay in close contact to arrive at a joint
response to this unprecedented aggression," Hollande's office said.
Remarks of William Hague, the British foreign secretary, on the alleged use of
chemical weapons in Syria
For his part, William Hague, UK foreign secretary, has said that any evidence
of a chemical attack may have been destroyed.
"The fact is that much of the evidence could have been destroyed by that
artillery bombardment," he said on Sunday.
The government of Bashar al-Assad has denied responsibility for Wednesday's
attack and blamed the rebels fighting Assad's forces of the same.
The rebels have held the regime forces responsible for the attack.
The alleged chemical weapons attack has spurred calls for global action against
Assad's government.
The US government has been under mounting pressure to act, with President
Barack Obama having defined the use chemical weapons as a "red line' for Syria.
As the Syrian National Council, an opposition umbrella organisation, called on
major powers to intervene in Syria, Obama met senior security officials on
Saturday to consider US options on how to respond to the crisis.
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
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