An international team set up to apportion blame for chemical weapons attacks in Syria has started investigating the deadly April 4 sarin gas incident in Idlib province, the head of the global chemical weapons watchdog said today.
Director-General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Ahmet Uzumcu told The Associated Press in an interview that the team, made up of experts from his group and the United nations, is already working and he was due to speak to its leader later in the day.
"They have some staff, up to 15 I guess, who have started working in our premises here," Uzumcu said. "And we will of course share all available information about recent incidents with them."
The probe will come under intense scrutiny amid widespread claims that Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime was responsible for the deaths of dozens of men, women and children in the town of Khan Sheikhoun. Assad denies responsibility.
An initial report by an OPCW fact-finding mission is expected next week. It will not apportion blame, but aims to establish whether chemical weapons were used.
Uzumcu, a Turkish diplomat, has said the mission has analyzed samples, including blood, urine and tissue, taken from Khan Sheikhoun victims and found "incontrovertible" evidence that they were exposed to the nerve agent sarin or a similar toxin.
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