The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has accepted the joint Syrian and Russian invitation to visit the liberated Douma suburb of Damascus where the US and its Takfiri allies alleged that a chemical weapons attack took place.
Yesterday at the United Nations, Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya stated that the event was cynically staged and that it is not surprising that Iran and Russia are blamed for a hoax attack, along with the Syrian government. The Ambassador confirmed that no nerve agents or chlorine was found in the soil at the site of the alleged attack and that when locals were interviewed, not a single resident confirmed a chemical attack. Furthermore, there are no dead bodies in the area and no information about where alleged dead bodies might be buried. Finally, Nebenzya pointed out that the Syrian Red Cresent debunked states saying they helped those with exposure to toxic gas. In reality the Red Crescent has experienced no such thing in Douma.
He nevertheless insisted that the OPCW conduct an independent investigation into chemical weapons claims, a sentiment echoed by Syrian Ambassador to the UN Dr. Bashar al-Jaafari and Staffan de Mistura, the UN Envoy to Syria. De Mistura further stated that for the first time in his experience with the Syria conflict, he fears that a wider global conflict could break out if the situation is not immediately de-escalated.
The OPCW has said that it’s representatives intend to travel to Syria in short order. The Organisation released the following statement on the matter,
“Today, the OPCW Technical Secretariat has requested the Syrian Arab Republic to make the necessary arrangements for such a deployment. This has coincided with a request from the Syrian Arab Republic and the Russian Federation to investigate the allegations of chemical weapons use in Douma. The team is preparing to deploy to Syria shortly”.
#OPCW will deploy the Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) to #Douma, #Syria. Learn more: https://t.co/ban2xukAKx pic.twitter.com/MyMyQgr4R2
— OPCW (@OPCW) April 10, 2018
While the US and its European client states have already made up their minds about the attack based on reports from pro-terrorist sources, Syria and Russia have welcomed the decision of the OPCW to follow Ambassador de Mistura’s recommendation of a full impartial and independent investigation.
While this is undoubtedly the correct route to take, the US could delay the investigation with a much threatened missile strike against Syria which depending on the location of the strike, could made Douma inaccessible to independent investigators.
