TURKEY: Syrian opposition says it will ensure the safety of U.N. chemical weapons inspectors in areas of Syria it controls
Record ID:
862622
TURKEY: Syrian opposition says it will ensure the safety of U.N. chemical weapons inspectors in areas of Syria it controls
- Title: TURKEY: Syrian opposition says it will ensure the safety of U.N. chemical weapons inspectors in areas of Syria it controls
- Date: 23rd August 2013
- Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (AUGUST 23, 2013) (REUTERS) SPOKESPERSON FOR COALITION, KHALED SALEH (AT PODIUM), AT PRESS CONFERENCE WITH SECRETARY GENERAL OF SYRIAN COALITION BADR JAMOUS MAP SHOWING ALLEGED CHEMICAL ATTACKS (SOUNDBITE) (English) SYRIAN COALITION SPOKESPERSON, KHALED SALEH, SAYING: "We are fully committed to assess, to assist the U.N. inspectors to get into all locations, all locations where chemical weapons were used against civilians. We hereby assure the U.N. inspectors, the U.N. Secretary-General, all members of the U.N. that we will ensure the safety of the U.N. inspectors team. However it is very critical to get that team into the area that was just hit in less than 48 hours. The clock is ticking and we want to see those inspectors, and we believe that the evidence will show who used those chemical weapons against innocent civilians." REPORTERS TAKING NOTES SALEH AND JAMOUS AT PRESS CONFERENCE
- Embargoed: 7th September 2013 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Turkey
- City:
- Country: Turkey
- Topics: Conflict,International Relations,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAAHCOB2VDGLS9CWAILL9SRBE5F
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- Story Text: Syria's opposition said on Friday (August 23) it would ensure the safety of U.N. chemical weapons inspectors in areas of Syria it controls and said it was critical that they reached the site of an alleged gas attack near Damascus within 48 hours.
"We are fully committed to assess, to assist the U.N. inspectors to get into all locations, all locations where chemical weapons were used against civilians. We hereby assure the U.N. inspectors, the U.N. Secretary-General, all members of the U.N. that we will ensure the safety of the U.N. inspectors team," Khaled Saleh, spokesman for the opposition Syrian National Coalition, told a news conference in Istanbul.
"However it is very critical to get that team into the area that was just hit in less than 48 hours. The clock is ticking and we want to see those inspectors, and we believe that the evidence will show who used those chemical weapons against innocent civilians," Saleh added.
Saleh's comments were an apparent rebuttal of suggestions from Moscow earlier that the opposition was preventing an objective investigation into allegations that the Syrian government carried out a chemical weapons attack.
Saleh said the Syrian opposition have "reliable" contacts in Syrian government giving them solid information about the launches of the missiles carrying chemical weapons. However Saleh declined to give any detail about the source.
Syrian activists say they are smuggling out body tissue samples from victims of the attack outside Damascus and are trying to get them to a team of U.N. inspectors staying in a hotel a few miles away. Saleh said the opposition would also try to get the samples out of Syria for tests. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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