Russia calls for transparent probe into Syria chemical attack

Moscow is opposed to the remote work of experts from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in Syria, and an investigation into the April 4 incident in the city of Khan Sheikhoun, Idlib province, should be transparent, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

"Another strange thing about this story. The US began demanding full access not only to al-Shayrat airfield (Homs province) but to other facilities as well, for some reason," he noted. 

On April 13, at the meeting of the OPCW Executive Council, the organization’s senior officials began to say, "No, we should only investigate the April 4 incident in Idlib, there is no need to go to the airfield." I cannot understand why, the more so since the US initially demanded to examine this airfield, and the Syrian government is ready to accept such an inspection."

"Such inconsistencies make us confident that there is something shady about the whole affair," Lavrov went on to say. "When we say that the scene of the incident should be visited, we are told that the samples had already been taken. Taken by whom? When?"

Source: MENA