UN Chemical Weapons Inspectors Leave Syria

UN chemical weapons inspectors, in Syria to
probe an alleged poison gas attack that killed
hundreds, have left Damascus for Beirut,
having completed four days of site visits and
evidence-gathering, witnesses and officials
say. The experts departed their hotel in the Syrian
capital on Saturday morning, after having
carried out a final day of inspections on Friday.
The inspectors are seeking to determine what
exactly happened in an alleged chemical
weapons strike that killed hundreds in the Damascus suburbs on August 21. The 13 inspectors, led by Ake Sellstrom, were
seen loading their luggage into seven UN
vehicles before setting off from their hotel, an
AFP correspondent said. The departure of the UN experts has
heightened expectations of a possible
international military strike against
government forces. UN officials say it may take weeks to analyse
the samples gathered and to present
conclusions, and UN spokesperson Martin
Nesirky said that the inspectors would return
to the country to investigate several other
alleged chemical weapons attacks that have taken place during the country’s two-and-a-
half year uprising against President Bashar al-
Assad. Saturday’s pullout comes as Washington
suggested that the UN investigation would
have no bearing on its decision about whether
to attack Syria in retaliation for the alleged
poison gas attack on civilians. “The samples that have been collected will be
taken to be analysed in designated
laboratories, and the intention of course is to
expedite the analysis of that sampling that’s
been taken,” Nesirky said. He offered no timeline for when that analysis
would be completed, but said all samples
would need to be fully analysed. “This is not an electoral process, where you
have exit polls and preliminary results,” he
said. “This is a scientific process. The only result
that counts is the result of the analysis in
laboratories and the analysis of the evidence
that’s been collected through witness
statements and so on.” Nesirky was addressing reporters while UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was meeting
with delegates from the five permanent UN
Security Council members – Britain, China,
France, Russia and the US – to update them on
the UN investigation in Syria. But two diplomats told the Reuters news
agency that Ban informed the five delegations
that analysis of the samples could take up to
two weeks. Ban cut short a visit to Europe amid concerns
that Western powers are preparing military
strikes against Syria to punish the government
of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for the
alleged chemical attack. On Friday, Angela Kane, the UN disarmament
envoy who had visited Syria with the UN
experts, also left Damascus for Lebanon, and
she is expected to brief Ban in New York later
on Saturday. France said on Friday it still backed military
action to punish Assad’s government, and
Washington pushed ahead with plans for a
response despite a British parliamentary vote
against a military strike. An unclassified report by US intelligence
agencies released on Friday said the attack
killed 1,429 Syrian civilians, including 426
children.