Syria urges transparency, impartiality, accuracy in chemical weapons probe

DAMASCUS - Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said Monday his government is keen to cooperate with the chemical weapons investigators who have arrived in Damascus three days ago, according to the state news agency SANA.

Mekdad said that the investigators of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) arrived in Damascus three days ago and held meetings with the Syrian government side, during which both sides discussed the cooperation for the team to carry out its work with transparency, impartiality, and accuracy.

The official also stressed the Syrian government's willingness to cooperate and facilitate the work of the OPCW team, which arrived to look into the allegations of chemical weapons use by the Syrian army on April 7 in the formerly rebel-held Douma district east of Damascus.

The Syrian government side denied the accusations, accusing the rebels of staging and fabricating the attack to frame the Syrian army and attract foreign military campaign.

On Saturday, the US, France and Britain launched missile strikes on Syrian military positions in retaliation for the alleged chemical attack in Douma, without waiting for the results of the investigation.