Douma chemical attack: Difference between revisions

On 10 April, the Syrian and Russian governments invited the [[Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons]] to send a team to investigate the attacks.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.opcw.org/news/article/opcw-will-deploy-fact-finding-mission-to-douma-syria/|title=OPCW Will Deploy Fact-Finding Mission to Douma, Syria|website=www.opcw.org|access-date=11 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180411192559/https://www.opcw.org/news/article/opcw-will-deploy-fact-finding-mission-to-douma-syria/|archive-date=11 April 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-ghouta-investiga/syria-invites-opcw-to-investigate-alleged-chemical-attack-in-douma-idUSKBN1HH218|title=Syria invites OPCW to investigate alleged chemical attack in Douma|work=Reuters|access-date=14 April 2018|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180414130054/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-ghouta-investiga/syria-invites-opcw-to-investigate-alleged-chemical-attack-in-douma-idUSKBN1HH218|archive-date=14 April 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> When the investigators arrived in Damascus on 14 April, their access to the site was blocked by Russia and Syria who cited security concerns.<ref name="Svoboda">{{cite news|url=https://www.svoboda.org/a/29173316.html|title=МИД Франции: эксперты ОЗХО до сих пор не допущены в Думу|website=Радио Свобода|date=17 April 2018 |access-date=17 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418161335/https://www.svoboda.org/a/29173316.html|archive-date=18 April 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all|quote=Representatives of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons arrived in Syria on [Saturday] April 14. The Russian office in the OPCW said that experts would be allowed into the city [of Douma] only on Wednesday 18 April] because of "security problems." Meanwhile, Syrian state media on Tuesday [17 April] announced that OPCW experts had arrived in the Duma, RFI reported .}}</ref><ref name="aljazeera1">[https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/04/chemical-weapons-inspectors-reach-douma-probe-gas-attack-180421130414025.html Chemical weapons inspectors reach Douma to probe gas attack] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180423033142/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/04/chemical-weapons-inspectors-reach-douma-probe-gas-attack-180421130414025.html |date=23 April 2018|quote=The OPCW team arrived in Damascus on Saturday [14 April] but had not been able to travel to Douma, on the outskirts of the capital, due to security concerns following a reconnaissance mission by a United Nations team at two sites in the town on Tuesday [17 April]. The UN Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) officials had to withdraw from the first location as the presence of large crowd there raised security fears. At the second site, they came under small arms fire and an explosive device was detonated nearby, the OPCW said in a statement.}}. [[Al Jazeera Media Network|Al Jazeera]]. Published 21 April 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.</ref><ref name="Wintour Douma">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/16/syria-chemical-attack-inspectors-unable-to-access-douma-site|title=Syria: chemical weapons inspectors barred from Douma site|first1=Patrick|last1=Wintour|first2=Julian|last2=Borger|date=16 April 2018|website=the Guardian|access-date=16 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180416141500/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/16/syria-chemical-attack-inspectors-unable-to-access-douma-site|archive-date=16 April 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all|quote=Earlier, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said the inspectors could not access the site because they did not have the appropriate United Nations permission. In response the UN said it had provided the necessary clearances for a fact-finding mission. Russian military officials were at the site of the Douma attack days before the OPCW reached Damascus. "It is our concern that they may have tampered with it," Kenneth Ward, the US ambassador to the OPCW, told the council meeting.}}</ref><ref>Anthony Deutsch, Tom Perry (18 April 2018). [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria/u-n-team-fired-upon-in-syria-while-visiting-suspected-chemical-sites-idUSKBN1HP0SG U.N. team fired upon in Syria while visiting suspected chemical sites] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418233023/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria/u-n-team-fired-upon-in-syria-while-visiting-suspected-chemical-sites-idUSKBN1HP0SG |date=18 April 2018}}. [[Reuters]]. Retrieved 22 April 2018.</ref><ref name=blocked>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/16/world/middleeast/syria-douma-chemical-attack.html|title=Chemical Weapons Experts Blocked From Site of Syria Attack, Officials Say|work=The New York Times|date=16 April 2018|access-date=16 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180416170652/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/16/world/middleeast/syria-douma-chemical-attack.html|archive-date=16 April 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>