LONDON: British Prime Minister David Cameron’s office said Wednesday that he and US President Barack Obama had no doubt Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime had used chemical weapons against its own people.
“Both leaders agreed that all the information available confirmed a chemical weapons attack had taken place, noting that even the Iranian President and Syrian regime had conceded this,” a Downing Street spokesperson said after the two leaders spoke on the phone Tuesday night.
“They both agreed they were in no doubt that the Assad regime was responsible.”
The statement came as UN inspectors set off Wednesday to a site in Damascus of the alleged chemical weapons attacks, a day after suspending their mission due to safety concerns, an AFP photographer said.
The team of arms experts boarded a convoy of six vehicles, the photographer said. It was unclear which site they were intending to visit.
The inspectors braved sniper fire when they began their mission on Monday but still managed to visit two field hospitals in Moadamiyet al-Sham, southwest of Damascus, and collect evidence of last week’s suspected chemical attacks.
But they were unable carry out a planned visit to a second site in Eastern Ghouta, on the Syrian capital’s northeastern outskirts, on Tuesday because their safety could not be guaranteed.
Opponents of Assad’s regime say more than 1,300 people died when his forces unleashed toxic gases on the two neighbourhoods on August 21. The regime strongly denies the claim.
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