UN accepts Syria's invitation for talks on chemical weapons probe

UNITED NATIONS, July 11 (Xinhua) -- United Nations officials have accepted the invitation of the Syrian government to visit Damascus for talks on carrying out the investigation on the alleged use of chemical weapons in the country's civil war, a spokesperson said here Thursday.

Under-Secretary-General Angela Kane and Ake Sellstrom, head of the UN Mission to Investigate Allegations of the Use of Chemical Weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic, have agreed to visit Damascus with a view to completing the consultations on the modalities of cooperation required for the "proper, safe and efficient conduct of the investigation," UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky told reporters.

The announcement came after Bashar Ja'afari, Syria's permanent representative to the UN, extended the invitation on Monday for the two to go to Damascus for the discussion on chemical weapon use in the Syrian crisis, which has killed as many as 100,000 people, sending almost two million people fleeing to neighboring countries while internally displacing a further four million.

In the hope for the visit to take place as soon as possible, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon emphasized that in light of the seriousness of allegations of the use of chemical weapons, the Mission will continue its activities which are aimed at establishing the facts in a credible manner, Nesirky said.

The focus of the UN fact-finding mission, set up in March following a formal request from the Syrian government, will be an incident involving the alleged use of chemical weapons at the Khan al-Asal town in Aleppo.

At least 25 people were killed and 130 others wounded on March 19 when armed men fired a rocket stuffed with chemical materials at Khan al-Asal.

The Syrian government accused opposition fighters of being behind it, which was denied by the rebels, who pointed their fingers at the government instead.

Vitaly Churkin, Russia's ambassador to the UN, said Tuesday that he had handed over evidence to the world body indicating the Syrian rebels used sarin in the March attack, while U.S. rejected Russia's claim soon afterwards.

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