From the Liveblog of
Monday, April 16, 2018
UN says it has given permits for Syria probe
The United Nations says it has provided the “necessary clearances” for a fact-finding mission from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to investigate a suspected chemical attack in the Damascus suburb of Douma.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric says that “the United Nations has provided the necessary clearances for the OPCW team to go about its work in Douma. We have not denied the team any request for it to go to Douma.”
He was responding to a report that Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the OPCW team cannot access the site in Douma without an appropriate UN permit.
Asked about the report earlier, Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyansky says: “We need to check it because it’s very strange for us to ask clearance from UN security.”
“There are no obstacles to them whatsoever,” he stresses. “We are facilitating their access as much as possible.”
— AP
