WASHINGTON _ A team of international inspectors on Tuesday accepted an invitation from Syria to examine the site of a suspected chemical attack on civilians in a rebel-held enclave outside Damascus.
The U.S. and other world powers suspect Syrian government forces of being behind the attack, which reportedly killed nearly 50 people, including children. They blame Russia for helping Syria.
But both Syria and Russia insist the attack did not happen and that graphic photographs of the victims were staged.
Hoping to back its position, Syria said members of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons would be allowed access to the site. The autonomous, intergovernmental group, which is based at The Hague, Netherlands, said in a statement it would dispatch a fact-finding team to Syria "shortly."
Having international inspectors on the ground in Syria could complicate any forthcoming plans by the Trump administration to bomb or otherwise retaliate against the government of President Bashar Assad.
The same group has been attacked twice by unknown hostile groups while on missions to sites of suspected chemical attacks in Syria.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry on the state-run Sana website condemned the use of chemical weapons "by anyone and under any circumstances and anywhere," and said it wanted to uncover the truth "about the claims being promoted by some Western sides to justify their hostile intentions and political goals."
On Monday, the United States had sought through the U.N. Security Council to establish an independent panel to investigate the most recent attack in Syria. However, Russia is likely to veto the measure, if brought to a vote.
