Amid the senseless violence in our nation’s capital on Monday which claimed 12 innocent lives, many stories have continued developing under the radar.
According to reports, United Nations weapons inspectors will be returning to Syria as part of the agreement between Syria and Russia to hand over all Syrian chemical weapons. Report from CNN:
U.N. investigators are planning to return to Syria to follow up on more allegations of chemical weapons use.
Ake Sellstrom, the head of the inspection team that visited after an August 21 attack, told CNN that the next visit could take place as early as next week.
The news might please Russia, which slammed a recent U.N. chemical weapons report as one-sided and called for inspectors to return to Syria.
Soon after Western countries said the U.N. findings implicated the Syrian regime in using sarin gas, Russia fired back, calling the report “distorted.”
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov also told Russia Today that the report was built on insufficient information. He said Russia has its own evidence from the site of the August 21 attack that, according to U.S. estimates, killed more than 1,400 people.
“This analysis is not finished, so the point here is not about accusing parties,” Ryabkov told Russia Today. “But the point is … that those inspectors of the U.N. should come back to Syria to complete their investigation.”
In the same interview, he said Syria has given Russia evidence that implicates rebels in the August 21 attack, which occurred outside Damascus.
It appears that the crisis of an imminent strike from the United States has been averted while the diplomatic route continues. Exit question: Does anyone trust Syria or Russia on this matter?
