UN inspectors head to site of suspected chemical attack
Team to leave Syria on Saturday, two days ahead of schedule
The UN team of experts investigating alleged chemical attacks in Syria arrived in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta on Thursday.
Preparing for their third day of investigations, the team was to inspect various sites where rockets loaded with chemical weapons reportedly struck and conduct more tests and interviews with the wounded, activists told Reuters.
Speaking in Vienna on Thursday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon asked for time for the inspection team to complete its investigations and announced that the team planned to leave Syria on Saturday, two days earlier than planned.
US President Barack Obama said Wednesday he has concluded the Syrian regime is behind the attack. It’s not clear if the Western powers will wait for the UN experts’ findings before launching a possible punitive military strike, but the US has signaled it would act even without backing from its allies or the UN.
The inspectors spent two days this week taking biological samples and interviewing survivors in the suburbs of Damascus where Syrian activists say hundreds were killed in the August 21 attacks.