NEW YORK, August 12 (RIA Novosti) – The United Nations has denied media reports that chemical weapons experts have postponed their trip to Syria, a UN spokesman said Monday.
“The team has gathered in The Hague, and logistics for their visit are being worked out with the Syrian authorities,” spokesman Eduardo Del Buey told reporters. UN sources have also confirmed to RIA Novosti that the planned visit was not delayed.
Russia submitted to the United Nations in July a comprehensive study of soil samples taken from the site of a reported chemical attack by Syrian opposition forces outside the northern city of Aleppo in March. The study determined that the nerve agent sarin was used and that it was not “industrially manufactured.”
Both sides in the ongoing Syrian civil war have traded allegations of chemical weapons use. Earlier reports by foreign experts claimed that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons on several occasions during the two-year conflict.
The United Nations has reported 13 alleged chemical weapons attacks in Syria since the civil war began.
