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UN 'probes post 21 August Syria chemical attacks' UN probes new alleged chemical weapons attacks in Syria
(about 1 hour later)
UN chemical weapons inspectors are investigating whether three chemical attacks were carried out in Syria after the 21 August Damascus incident that sparked threats of US military action. UN inspectors are investigating seven alleged chemical weapons attacks in Syria - three of which happened after the 21 August Damascus incident that sparked threats of US military action.
A UN statement said that, in all, seven alleged incidents of chemical weapons use were under investigation. The UN said its team of inspectors is set to finish its work by Monday.
A UN team currently in Syria is set to complete its work on Monday. The day after, a separate team is due to arrive in Damascus to inspect Syria's chemical weapons stockpile.
A UN resolution on making Syria's stockpile safe is expected soon, after the US and Russia agreed the text. That visit, by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), is due to be formally approved later.
Experts from the world's chemical weapons watchdog, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), are then expected to begin inspecting Syria's stockpile by Tuesday, a draft agreement has said. The OPCW's 41-nation executive council will vote on a draft agreement for the inspections on Friday evening.
The OPCW text is due to be voted on at a meeting in The Hague later on Friday. The text will then be incorporated into a UN Security Council resolution - which has been agreed by both the US and Russia - calling on Syria to give up its chemical weapons.
UN list The resolution will condemn the use of chemical weapons in an attack on the outskirts of Damascus on 21 August which killed hundreds of people - but will not attribute blame.
The UN team lead by Ake Sellstrom arrived in Syria on 25 August to continue investigating allegations of chemical weapons use. If Syria fails to comply, a second resolution would be required to impose measures under Chapter VII of the UN charter, including the use of force.
The deployment followed a US-Russia brokered deal under which Syria has agreed to eliminate all chemical weapons by mid-2014. In a sign of the ongoing violence in the country, Syrian activists said a car bomb had killed at least 20 people near a mosque in Rankus, a town north of Damascus, just after Friday prayers.
The UN statement listed the seven chemical attacks alleged to have taken place this year and which are under investigation: 'Unfettered' access
The US threatened the Syrian government with military action over the Ghouta incident, which left hundreds of people dead. In a statement, the UN said its chemical weapons inspection team, led by Ake Sellstrom, arrived in Syria for its second visit on 25 September and hopes to have finished its work by Monday 30 September.
A UN report on the attack published later confirmed that the nerve agent sarin had been used in a rocket attack there, although it did not apportion blame. The team is working on a "comprehensive report" into seven allegations of chemical weapons use in Syria, which it hopes will be published by late October, the statement said.
Syria has pushed for the investigation of the post-21 August incidents. The UN listed the alleged attacks, which all took place this year, as:
Syria has pushed for the investigation of the three post-21 August incidents.
Its envoy to the United Nations, Bashar Jaafari, accused "militants" of using chemical gas against the army in Bahhariyeh, Jobar and Ashrafiah Sahnaya.Its envoy to the United Nations, Bashar Jaafari, accused "militants" of using chemical gas against the army in Bahhariyeh, Jobar and Ashrafiah Sahnaya.
It was the Ghouta incident of 21 August that sparked international outrage and the threat of military action from the US and its allies.
Since then Russia - an ally of Syria - has urged Damascus to agree to give up its chemical weapons stockpile in a bid to avert a military attack.
Earlier this month, the US and Russia asked the OPCW to decide how to ensure the "complete elimination of all chemical weapons material and equipment" in Syria by the first half of 2014.
The OPCW's draft agreement calls for inspections of Syria's chemical arsenal to begin by Tuesday. An advance team will probably arrive on Monday.
Syria is instructed to provide "immediate and unfettered" access to OPCW's inspectors. If it does not, a meeting of the executive council will be called within 24 hours.
The text also authorises the OPCW to inspect "any other site identified by a State Party as having been involved in the Syrian chemical weapons programme, unless deemed unwarranted by the director general".
The OPCW usually only inspects sites that have been declared by states which have acceded to the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
The draft agreement calls for urgent funding to hire inspectors and technical experts to destroy an estimated 1,000 tonnes of chemical agents and precursor chemicals, including the blister agent sulphur mustard, and the nerve agents sarin and VX.