UN, key parties discuss chemical watchdog work in Syria

The UN spokesman says discussions are taking place in Syria’s capital with all key parties on security arrangements for inspectors from the UN chemical weapons watchdog to visit the site of a suspected chemical attack in Douma.

Stephane Dujarric tells reporters at UN headquarters Thursday that “due to the volatility” of the situation on the ground in Douma the United Nations doesn’t want “to telegraph” when a UN security team will return to Douma to check out whether conditions on the ground are safe for the inspectors to visit.

A UN security team touring the sites of the alleged attack on Tuesday was shot at and subjected to a blast but returned safely to Damascus, Dujarric said earlier.

The alleged April 7 chemical attack in Douma prompted the United States, France, and Britain to strike at suspected Syrian chemical weapons facilities.

— AP