Russia insists on UN probe of Syria chemical weapons

Budapest, May 3 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Moscow has urged the UN to respond to Syria's request to probe the alleged use of chemical weapons on its territory in March, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

"We insist that the Syrian government's request should receive a response," Lavrov said in Budapest, where he met his Hungarian counterpart Janos Martonyi.

In March, the Syrian government and rebels traded accusations of the use of chemical weapons in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo that killed some 25 people.

The Syrian government earlier addressed the UN, asking to probe the reports. The UN said it wanted an expanded investigation to be held, which Damascus has declined and refused to let investigators to its territory.

The Russian minister described the delays in the inquiry as an attempt to force the Iraqi scenario on Syria, referring to the 2003 unconfirmed claims that Saddam Hussein's government possessed weapons of mass destruction which led to the foreign invasion.

"This is wrong and reminds us of those resolutions the UN Security Council passed over Iraq," Lavrov said.

--IANS/RIA Novosti

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