UN experts leave Syria, arrive in Lebanon

UN experts tasked with investigating an alleged chemical weapons attack last week outside Damascus arrived in Lebanon from Syria Saturday morning, media reports said.

The UN team entered Lebanon through the Masnaa border crossing and travelled to the Beirut International Airport after completing its four-day on-site inspections in Damascus countryside.

The experts are headed for The Hague with samples collected from the suspected site of the Aug 21 attacks for lab analysis.

On Friday, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said the team had completed collecting medical samples from field hospitals and environmental samples on the site and interviewed victims for evidence.

The UN fact-finding group, created by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in March at the request of the Syrian government, will try to establish only whether chemical weapons were used, not who used them.