Watchdog sending team to probe alleged Syria gas attack

The global chemical weapons watchdog said today it will "shortly" deploy a fact-finding team to the rebel-held Syrian town of Douma to probe an alleged poison gas attack.

Both Syria and its ally Russia have called on the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to investigate after first responders said more than 40 people died in the suspected chemical arms attack on Douma on Saturday.

"The OPCW technical secretariat has requested the Syrian Arab Republic to make the necessary arrangements for such a deployment," the OPCW said in a statement.

"The team is preparing to deploy to Syria shortly," it added, saying the OPCW's director general Ahmet Uzumcu wants the team "to establish facts surrounding these allegations."
The Russian embassy in The Hague said Tuesday it had passed along a proposal to the OPCW from Moscow "to immediately launch the investigation."