© AFP 2017/ Omar haj kadour
13:01 15.04.2017(updated 13:20 15.04.2017) Get
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The Syrian government has officially invited experts
from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons' (OPCW)
headquarters to investigate the alleged chemical attack in Syria's Idlib,
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Saturday.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Syrian opposition claimed
on April 4 forces loyal to President Bashar Assad had used a chemical
gas on people in the northwestern province, killing nearly 80 and
injuring 200. Assad argued his government has no chemical weapons after agreeing
to have them destroyed in 2013. He also ruled out having used
chemicals against own people.
"The government has officially invited the
experts by sending a relevant invitation to the organization
in The Hague," Lavrov said after a meeting with his Qatari
counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Than in Moscow.
Russia will insist, including in the UN Security
Council, that the OPCW experts should be sent to the site of an
alleged chemical attack in the Syrian province of Idlib as well
as to the airbase targeted by an US missile strike as soon
as possible, Lavrov said.
"We find it necessary to conduct a
thorough, objective, impartial and professional investigation and will insist,
in the framework of the Organization for the Prohibition
of Chemical Weapons and in New York, in the United Nations,
on sending inspectors to the site of the incident as well
as to the airport, where, according to our colleagues' claims, shells
with chemical weapons had been equipped."
Russia hopes that Syrian opposition will ensure
safety for experts of the OPCW, he added.
"Concerning the regions that are controlled
by the opposition, the so-called High Negotiations Committee's head Riyad
Hijab said that he was ready to provide assistance for the
investigation. I proceed from the assumption that this includes guarantees
of safety for [experts'] access to this part of the Idlib
province."
Lavrov added that there is no need for the OPCW
to investigate the incident remotely, adding that experts should be
provided with full access to the incident site in Idlib and
to Syria's Ash Sha'irat airbase targeted by the United States.
Meanwhile, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim
Al-Thani said that Qatar agrees with Russia that it is necessary
to conduct a thorough investigation into the chemical attack
in the Syrian province of Idlib.
"We agreed with the Russian side that it is
crucially important to conduct an independent and unbiased investigation…
It is necessary to bring all those responsible to justice and we will
support all efforts in this matter," Al-Thani said.
Moscow has demanded a proper investigation
into the incident under the auspices of the OPCW
before accusing Damascus of carrying out the attack.
Days after the Idlib incident, the United States launched 59 Tomahawk
cruise missiles at the Syrian
military airfield in Ash Sha’irat, located about 40 kilometers (25
miles) from the city of Homs. US President Donald Trump said the
attack was a response to the alleged chemical
weapon use in Syria's Idlib,
which Washington blames on the Syrian government. Russia described the
attack as an aggression against a sovereign state.
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