UN weapons experts return to Syria

UN inspectors were returning to Syria today to pursue a probe into alleged poison gas attacks, as Russia and the West wrangled over how to strip Bashar al-Assad of banned chemical weapons.

The group, led by chief expert Ake Sellstrom, arrived in Beirut en route back to Damascus, an airport source told AFP.

US President Barack Obama yesterday demanded tough Security Council action against Syria as the conflict there dominated debate at the annual UN General Assembly.

Sellstrom's team is expected to examine the alleged use of chemical weapons some 14 times in the 30-month conflict that is estimated to have killed more than 110,000 people.

After a preliminary visit last month the team concluded in a report presented on September 16 that banned chemical weapons had been used on a wide scale.

There was clear evidence that sarin gas was used in an attack in the Eastern Ghouta neighbourhood near Damascus on August 21, the report said.

Sellstrom pointed out that the report was only an interim document, and that other allegations needed to be looked into.

"There have been other accusations presented to the UN secretary general, dating back to March, against both sides" in the conflict, he told AFP earlier this month.

There were "13, 14 accusations" that "have to be investigated".

Sellstrom said the team hoped to be able to present a final report addressing all of the accusations "possibly by the end of October".

Last month's attack, which the Syrian opposition and some parts of the international community blame on the regime, prompted Washington to threaten military action against Damascus.

President Assad's government denies using chemical weapons against its own people, and has agreed to a US-Russian plan that will see it hand over its chemical arsenal for destruction.

The deal headed off US military action, but Syrian regime ally Russia is still wrangling with Britain, France and the United States over the wording of a UN resolution enshrining the accord.