Syrian official: Government will cooperate with fact-finding mission on Douma

A Syrian government official says his country is “fully ready” to cooperate with the fact-finding mission from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons that’s in Syria to investigate the alleged chemical attack that triggered US-led airstrikes.

Faisal Mekdad, Syria’s deputy foreign minister, says officials from his government have met with the delegation — which has been in Damascus for three days — a number of times to discuss cooperation.

The OPCW arrived in Syria a day before the joint punitive airstrikes from the United States, Britain and France a week after the alleged chemical attack in Douma, where activists say more than 40 people were killed.

The OPCW mission has yet to visit Douma, where government and Russian police deployed soon after the rebels in the town surrendered following the chemical attack.

— AP