Syria allows UN inspectors to investigate allegations of chemical weapons use in Damascus province

Syria has agreed to allow UN inspectors to investigate site where an alleged suspected chemical weapon attack was carried out near Damascus.

The Syrian foreign ministry statement said that an agreement to allow UN chemical weapons experts to investigate allegations of chemical weapons use in Damascus province had been concluded with the UN's disarmament chief, Angela Kane.

The agreement was effective immediately, the statement added.

The team will be beginning work on Monday. Activists said Syrian forces killed more than 300 people in several suburbs east and west of the capital on Wednesday.

According to the BBC, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague warned that evidence could have been tampered with, degraded or destroyed in the five days since the attack.

State media reported that chemical agents were found in tunnels used by rebel fighters, and also that soldiers suffered suffocation in fighting around the suburb of Jobar, the report said.

A spokesperson for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon later announced that the inspectors were preparing to conduct on-site fact-finding activities, beginning on Monday.

A ceasefire will be observed at the affected locations, the statement said.