Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday denied allegations that Russia is working with the Syrian government to keep international inspectors away from the chemical weapons attack site in Douma so the evidence can be destroyed.

“As for yesterday’s statement, which said that the US has evidence to prove that Russia and Syria were delaying OPCW experts from gaining access to the town of Douma – if they really have it, let them present it,” Lavrov said at a press conference.

“We have more than once presented the evidence that we have, including pictures and people’s interviews. As for our counterparts, we have only heard allegations about evidence, be it the alleged Douma incident or the Salisbury incident,” Lavrov continued, the latter a reference to the attempted assassination of former spy Sergei Skripal with nerve agents in Britain.

Inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) attempted to enter Douma to examine the chemical attack sites this week but were kept away by security concerns, including gunfire and an angry mob appearing at one site.

The U.S. State Department on Thursday said it has obtained “credible information” that Russian and Syrian officials are working together to deny inspectors access to Douma, buying time for the attack sites to be “sanitized” and incriminating evidence removed.

British Ambassador to the United Nations Karen Pierce echoed these accusations on Friday, saying there is a “possibility” that Russia and Syria have tampered with evidence in Douma.

“We look to the Russians and the Syrians to uphold the promises they made to the Security Council last week that the inspectors would be allowed in, that they would be escorted, that they would be safe and that they could have free access,” she said.

Pierce did not indicate the British government has any evidence that Russia and Syria are deliberately holding back inspectors or tampering with evidence at the sites. Instead, she stressed the importance of allowing the OPCW team to conduct its work “expeditiously” and file a thorough report.

On Thursday evening, British Prime Minister Theresa May accused the Russians of running a “disinformation campaign” to cover up the chemical weapons abuses in Douma and Salisbury.

“This disinformation campaign is not just aimed at social media and the UK – it is intended to undermine the actual institutions and processes of the rules-based system, such as the Organisation for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons. We must do all we can at every turn to challenge this,” May said.

This week, the director of the largest medical relief agency working on Syria, the Union of Medical care and Relief Organizations (UOSSM) said that doctors who treated patients in Douma were intimidated and threatened by agents of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, including threats of violence to their families if they tell international inspectors what they have seen.

“There has been a very heavy security presence on the ground ever since the attack and they have been targeting doctors and medics in a very straightforward way. Any medic who tried to leave Douma was searched so vigorously, especially for samples. At one medical point, seven casualties were taken away. The Russian military police were heavily involved. They were directing things,” said one physician.

“We were receiving threats since the siege began, prior to the chemical weapons attack. When the attack took place, things became much more dangerous. They’re wiping out evidence that would prove the crime, and they are forcing doctors and residents who are witnesses to say that nothing took place,” said another medic.

AFP reported on Thursday that photographs circulated by Russia and the Assad regime that purportedly showed “White Helmet” rescue volunteers faking the chemical attack in Douma were themselves fakes. The photos were taken from the set of a propaganda film supported by the Syrian culture ministry that was completed and screened over a month before the chemical attack. </s> The international chemical weapons watchdog on Saturday said a team of inspectors had visited the site of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Syrian town of Douma in Eastern Ghouta.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said the fact-finding mission team had collected samples for analysis from the site of the alleged April 7 attack, which resulted in retaliatory missile strikes by the United States, Britain and France.

Read more: Airstrikes in Syria: What you need to know

Earlier on Saturday, Russia's Foreign Ministry said the OPCW team was on its way to Douma. The OPCW's team had been delayed for several days as it tried to reach the site. France and the United States accused Russia of obstructing access to the site.

"The security of the OPCW has been guaranteed not only by the Syrian side but also by the Russian command in Syria," Russia's Foreign Ministry said.

Russia supports Syrian President Bashar Assad's army and has denied claims that Syrian forces carried out the alleged attack.

"The samples collected will be transported to the OPCW Laboratory in Rijswijk and then dispatched for analysis to the OPCW's designated labs," the OPCW said.

Based on the analysis of the sample results and other information and materials, the team will compile a report to be submitted to the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention for their consideration.

"The OPCW will evaluate the situation and consider future steps including another possible visit to Douma," the OPCW said.

Also on Saturday in Syria, anti-regime fighters and civilians were bused out of a northeast Damascus suburb, after rebel forces agreed to cede the territory Assad's forces, which are backed by Russia and Iran.

State news agency SANA said buses started leaving a town in East Qalamun, 40 kilometers (25 miles) northeast of Damascus.

Syrian state television reported 3,200 militants and their families were to be transported to Idlib and Jarabulus, a rebel-held area along the Turkish border.

Earlier this week, rebels agreed to surrender the town of Dumayr, an enclave northeast of Damascus. About 5,000 people, including 1,500 fighters, left the town.

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here. </s> BEIRUT -- The international chemical weapons watchdog said Tuesday it will send a fact-finding mission to the Syrian town where a suspected gas attack took place over the weekend, after receiving a request from the Syrian government and its Russian backers to investigate the allegations.

In a statement, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said a fact-finding team is "preparing to deploy to Syria shortly."

It was not immediately clear whether the announcement would avert U.S. military action against Syria. President Donald Trump has vowed to respond "forcefully" to Saturday's attack on civilians in the town of Douma, in the eastern Ghouta suburbs, and warned that Russia -- or any other nation found to share responsibility -- will "pay a price."

Trump on Tuesday cancelled plans to travel to South America later this week, choosing to stay in the United States to manage the response to the events in Syria.

Syrian government forces were on high alert and taking precautionary measures Tuesday at military positions across the country amid fears of a U.S. strike in the aftermath of the attack near Damascus.

The OPCW, in its statement, said its technical Secretariat has asked the Syrian government to make the necessary arrangements for the deployment of a fact-finding mission. The group is the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1997, which has been signed by 192 member states.

Syria became a member in 2013 as part of a deal brokered by the U.S. and Russia after a chemical attack in eastern Ghouta killed hundreds of people. That attack was widely blamed on government forces, who denied responsibility.

Syrian opposition activists and paramedics said at least 40 people were killed in last weekend's suspected chemical attack and blamed the government. The Syrian government and its Russian backers strongly deny the allegations, and have questioned whether a chemical weapons attack took place.

Earlier Tuesday, Syria invited the OPCW to send a fact-finding mission to Douma, the last rebel stronghold in the eastern Ghouta suburbs. The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the government will help the watchdog investigate the alleged attack.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday he is outraged by the reported attack, and that the use of chemical weapons would be a violation of international law. He also reaffirmed his support for an OPCW investigation.

A senior Russian lawmaker said Tuesday that Moscow is willing to help arrange an OPCW visit to the site of the suspected attack. Yevgeny Serberennikov, from the defence committee at the Federation Council, told the RIA Novosti news agency that Russia is eager for the OPCW to "finally start carrying out the functions it was created for."

Asked in Berlin whether she supports the idea, German Chancellor Angela Merkel responded unenthusiastically, saying that "the evidence that chemical weapons were used there is very, very clear."

A Syrian air base was struck by missiles a little more than 24 hours after the alleged chemical attack, an airstrike that Syria and Russia have blamed on Israel. Israel does not typically comment on its operations in Syria, and it is unclear whether the missile attack was linked to the alleged use of chemical weapons.

Seven Iranians were among the estimated 14 people killed in the missile attack, and a senior Iranian official visiting Damascus said the attack "will not remain unanswered." Ali Akbar Velayati, an aide to Iran's supreme leader, spoke upon arrival in the Syrian capital on Tuesday, and was quoted by Iran's state-run news agency IRNA.

Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency put the number of Iranians killed in the missile attack at seven. It said the victims have been transferred to Tehran, and that funerals will be held in the victims' hometowns across the country.

Iran is one of Assad's strongest backers and has sent thousands of troops and allied militiamen to support his forces.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that as of Monday night, troops have been on a 72-hour alert and are fortifying their positions. The Observatory's chief, Rami Abdurrahman, said the alert includes all army positions and bases from the southern province of Sweida all the way to Aleppo province in the north, the Mediterranean coast in the west to Deir el-Zour province in the east, along the Iraqi border.

The Sound and Picture Organization, an activist collective in eastern Syria, said that Iranian fighters and members of Lebanon's Hezbollah group have evacuated their positions in the Boukamal area, near the Iraqi border, which was recently retaken from the Islamic State group.

A Lebanese politician with close links to the Syrian government confirmed that precautionary measures were being taken throughout Syria. The politician, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about secret military movements, said the atmosphere and U.S. statements hint at a possible strike, "but there are no indications on the ground so far."

The politician said the Syrian government was expecting a limited U.S. strike, similar to the one on Shayrat air base last year, which came after an alleged chemical attack on a rebel-held town in northern Syria that killed dozens of people.

Associated Press writer Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow, Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report. </s> Inspectors from the world's chemical arms watchdog arrived Saturday in the Syrian town of Douma, where an alleged chemical attack took place earlier this month, the Russian foreign ministry said.

A team from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) have been in Syria for a week but had not travelled to the city because of security fears.

"According to the information we have, the special OPCW mission... arrived on the morning of April 21 in the city of Douma at the sites suspected of having toxic substances," the ministry said in a statement.

"The security of the OPCW has been guaranteed not only by the Syrian side but also by the Russian command in Syria."

Dozens were killed in the suspected gas attack in Douma, near Damascus, on April 7, widely blamed on President Bashar al-Assad's forces, according to emergency workers.

The Syrian government has consistently denied using chemical arms and invited the OPCW to investigate.

The Russian ministry said it expects the OPCW to carry out an "impartial investigation".

"Especially since this is the first visit to the scene of a suspected chemical incident in the history of the so-called Syrian chemical record," it said. </s> International experts from the global agency for the monitoring of chemical weapons set off to the site of a suspected April 7 gas attack in Syria on Saturday, Russia’s foreign ministry said.

Inspectors from the Organization of the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons were delayed for one week in Damascus before they could visit the town, just minutes’ away from the capital, where the alleged attack occurred.

The town of Douma was at the time under rebel control and facing a ferocious government air and ground assault. Militants gave up the town days after the alleged attack.

The U.S., France, and Britain blamed the Syrian government for the attack, and struck suspected Syrian chemical weapons facilities one week later.

The Syrian government and its ally Russia denied responsibility for the attack.

Russian ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the delays to the OPCW team were “unacceptable,” in a statement Saturday.

A U.N. security team touring Douma on Tuesday came under small arms and explosives fire, leading the OPCW to postpone its visit.

The U.S. and Britain accused the Syrian government and Russia of delaying the investigation to stage a cover up.

Images that emerged from Douma in the hours after the attack showed lifeless bodies collapsed in crowded rooms, some with foam around their noses and mouths.

Medical workers and activists in Douma at the time said at least 40 people were killed.

Thousands of people — rebels and civilians — left Douma on buses to north Syria in the days after the attack, believing they could not reconcile with the government after it took over the town. North Syria is divided between opposition, Turkish, and al-Qaida control.

The evacuations were the latest in a string of population transfers around the Syrian capital that have displaced more than 60,000 people as the government reconsolidates control after seven years of civil war.

U.N. officials and human rights groups say the evacuations amount to a forced population displacement that may be a war crime.

On Saturday, rebels began evacuating three towns in the eastern Qalamoun region in the Damascus countryside, state TV reported.

State-run Al-Ikhbariya TV said several buses left the towns of Ruhaiba, Jayroud, and al-Nasriya carrying hundreds of rebels and their families to opposition territory in north Syria.

The station said there could be 3,200 rebels leaving three towns on Saturday. It said the evacuations will continue for three days.

Syrian government forces will take over the towns once the departures are complete. </s> BEIRUT (AP) - International experts from the global agency for the monitoring of chemical weapons set off to the site of a suspected April 7 gas attack in Syria on Saturday, Russia’s foreign ministry said.

Inspectors from the Organization of the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons were delayed for one week in Damascus before they could visit the town, just minutes’ away from the capital, where the alleged attack occurred.

The town of Douma was at the time under rebel control and facing a ferocious government air and ground assault. Militants gave up the town days after the alleged attack.

The U.S., France, and Britain blamed the Syrian government for the attack, and struck suspected Syrian chemical weapons facilities one week later.

The Syrian government and its ally Russia denied responsibility for the attack.

Russian ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the delays to the OPCW team were “unacceptable,” in a statement Saturday.

A U.N. security team touring Douma on Tuesday came under small arms and explosives fire, leading the OPCW to postpone its visit.

The U.S. and Britain accused the Syrian government and Russia of delaying the investigation to stage a cover up.

Images that emerged from Douma in the hours after the attack showed lifeless bodies collapsed in crowded rooms, some with foam around their noses and mouths.

Medical workers and activists in Douma at the time said at least 40 people were killed.

Thousands of people - rebels and civilians - left Douma on buses to north Syria in the days after the attack, believing they could not reconcile with the government after it took over the town. North Syria is divided between opposition, Turkish, and al-Qaida control.

The evacuations were the latest in a string of population transfers around the Syrian capital that have displaced more than 60,000 people as the government reconsolidates control after seven years of civil war.

U.N. officials and human rights groups say the evacuations amount to a forced population displacement that may be a war crime.

On Saturday, rebels began evacuating three towns in the eastern Qalamoun region in the Damascus countryside, state TV reported.

State-run Al-Ikhbariya TV said several buses left the towns of Ruhaiba, Jayroud, and al-Nasriya carrying hundreds of rebels and their families to opposition territory in north Syria.

The station said there could be 3,200 rebels leaving three towns on Saturday. It said the evacuations will continue for three days.

Syrian government forces will take over the towns once the departures are complete. </s> A team of inspectors from the international chemical weapons watchdog was en route to Syria on Friday to begin an investigation into a suspected chemical weapons attack near the capital that has brought the war-torn country to the brink of a wider conflict, amid Western threats of retaliation and Russian warnings of the potential for "a dangerous escalation."

The fact-finding mission from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons was expected to head to Douma, where Russia said rebels had now capitulated to government control. The Syrian government said it would facilitate the mission's investigation, which was to begin Saturday.

Syria and its ally, Russia, deny any such attack, which activists say killed more than 43 people last weekend.

Speaking at the United Nations on Thursday, Russia's UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, said the top priority had to be to avert a wider war, and didn't rule out the possibility of a U.S.-Russia conflict.

Speaking to reporters after a closed emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, Nebenzia said Russia was concerned with "the dangerous escalation" of the situation, and "aggressive policies" and preparations that some governments were making — a clear reference to the U.S. and the Trump administration and allies.

"We hope that there will be no point of no return — that the U.S. and their allies will refrain from military action against a sovereign state," Nebenzia said.

He said "the danger of escalation is higher than simply Syria."

The Security Council scheduled another emergency meeting for Friday morning at Russia's request.

The imminent arrival of the chemical weapons inspectors came as rebels in Douma surrendered their weapons and left the town for opposition-held areas in the north. Russia's military said Thursday that Douma was now under full control of the Syrian government in the wake of a Russian-mediated deal secured the evacuation of the rebels and thousands of civilians after it was recaptured by Syrian forces.

Douma and the sprawling eastern Ghouta region near the capital of Damascus had been under rebel control since 2012 and was a thorn in the side of President Bashar al-Assad's government, threatening his seat of power with missiles and potential advances for years. The government's capture of Douma, the last town held by the rebels in eastern Ghouta, marked a major victory for Assad.

Residents in Damascus, who had lived on edge for years because of mortar shells lobbed from eastern Ghouta, celebrated the news. Vehicles carrying Syrian flags were seen driving from Damascus into Douma, chanting in support of the government.

"This is a victory for Syria and the allies of Syria," declared Abboud Mardini, a 38-year old merchant in Damascus. "Eastern Ghouta was the main source of ... terrorists who from there spread throughout Syria."

There was no official government announcement that Douma had been recaptured and no indication Syrian forces had yet entered the town, where Russian military police were deployed to preserve the peace after an evacuation fraught with difficulties. A single government flag was raised, a war monitoring group said.

Hamza Bayraqdar, spokesperson for Jaysh al-Islam, the main rebel group that once controlled Douma, said his fighters had all evacuated from the area. They handed over their heavy and medium weapons, as well as maps of land mines and the tunnels they dug, according to Syrian state media.

Douma and the rest of eastern Ghouta had been a significant rebel stronghold throughout Syria's civil war, and its surrender came after years of siege by Assad's troops and a months-long military offensive. It followed weeks of negotiations mediated by Russia that repeatedly were derailed. A truce collapsed last week and the Syrian government pressed ahead with its military offensive.

Then came the suspected chemical attack in Douma, followed by international condemnation and threats of military action.

Amid conflicting tweets about the timing of any retaliation, U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday an attack on Syria could take place "very soon or not so soon at all." On Capitol Hill, U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said the National Security Council met Thursday to present Trump with various options, and that he could not talk about any military plans because an attack "is not yet in the offing."

Also Thursday, the British cabinet gave Prime Minister Theresa May the green light to work with the U.S. and France "to co-ordinate an international response," though it gave no indication of the timing or scale of any action.

French President Emmanuel Macron said his government had proof that the Syrian government had launched chlorine gas attacks in recent days. He said his government would not tolerate "regimes that think everything is permitted," though he stopped short of saying whether France was planning military action.

In response to the threats, Assad said Thursday that a potential retaliation would be based on "lies" and would seek to undermine his forces' recent advances near Damascus. Western threats endanger international peace and security, Assad said, and military action would only contribute to the "further destabilization" of the region.

After the back-and-forth from Washington, Moscow and European Union capitals, residents in Damascus appeared to have brushed off the threat of an imminent attack.

The streets of Damascus were packed Thursday with people headed to the main market, cafés and restaurants.

At Nabil Nafiseh, one of Damascus's most famous sweets shops, men, women and children sat outdoors enjoying the evening breeze and nibbling on Arab sweets.

Real estate agent Ahmad Abdul-Rahman said he had brought his wife and three sons from his hometown of Aleppo, where there are no significant military targets, to Damascus to be together in case of an attack.

"I came here to defy the dogs who are threatening Syria," the 43-year-old said. "We don't care about America nor America's strike and we don't care about America's allies. We were not scared in Aleppo and we are not scared in Damascus."

Rafah al-Okda, a 21-year-old nursing student at Damascus University, said she had not changed her routine following the threats.

"Syria is a strong country, but our allies Russia and Iran make us stronger," she said.

Ahmad al-Issa, 46, ruled out a U.S. airstrike, saying Trump has in the past threatened to wipe North Korea off the map, then ended up calling for a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

"Even if he [Trump] fires what he calls smart bombs, at us, they will be stupid bombs because they will backfire on him and Syrians will be stronger," al-Issa said. </s> BEIRUT/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - International chemical weapons experts will go to the Syrian town of Douma to investigate a suspected poison gas attack, their organization said on Tuesday, as the United States and other Western powers consider military action over the incident.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who had been due to travel to Peru on Friday, canceled a trip to Latin America to focus on responding to the Syria incident, the White House said. Trump on Monday warned of a quick, forceful response once responsibility for the attack was established.

France and Britain also discussed with the Trump administration how to respond to the incident. Both stressed that the culprit in the incident still needed to be confirmed.

At least 60 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured in Saturday’s suspected attack on Douma, then still occupied by rebel forces, according to a Syrian relief group.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government and its ally Russia have said there was no evidence a gas attack had taken place and that the claim was bogus.

The incident has thrust Syria’s seven-year-old conflict back to the forefront of international concern and pitted Washington and Moscow against each other again.

Russia and the United States were headed for a showdown at the United Nations over how to respond to the Douma attack.

Aggravating the volatile situation in the region, Iran, Assad’s other main ally, threatened to respond to an air strike on a Syrian military base on Monday that Tehran, Damascus and Moscow have blamed on Israel.

In Syria, thousands of militants and their families arrived in rebel-held parts of the country’s northwest after surrendering Douma to government forces.

Their evacuation restored Assad’s control over the eastern Ghouta, formerly the biggest rebel bastion near Damascus, and gave him his biggest battlefield victory since 2016, when he took back Aleppo.

The Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said Syria had been asked to make the necessary arrangements for the deployment of an investigation team.

“The team is preparing to deploy to Syria shortly,” it said in a statement.

The mission will aim to determine whether banned munitions were used, but will not assign blame. Doctors and witnesses have said victims showed symptoms of poisoning, possibly by a nerve agent, and reported the smell of chlorine gas.

The Assad government and Russia both urged the OPCW to investigate the allegations of chemical weapons use in Douma, a move apparently aimed at averting any U.S.-led action.

“Syria is keen on cooperating with the OPCW to uncover the truth behind the allegations that some Western sides have been advertising to justify their aggressive intentions,” Syria’s state news agency SANA said.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said there was no threat of the situation in Syria resulting in a military clash between Russia and the United States. TASS news agency quoted him as saying he believed common sense would prevail.

Any U.S. strike is likely to involve naval assets, given the risk to aircraft from Russian and Syrian air defense systems. A U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer, the USS Donald Cook, is in the Mediterranean.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that any strikes would not target the Syrian government’s allies or anybody in particular, but would be aimed at the Syrian government’s chemical facilities.

Speaking alongside Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Macron said a decision on whether to carry out military strikes would be made in the coming days after more consultations with the United States and Britain.

Last year, the United States launched strikes from two Navy destroyers against a Syrian air base.

A U.S. action similar to last year’s would likely not cause a shift in the direction of the war that has gone Assad’s way since 2015.

A European source said European governments were waiting for the OPCW to carry out its investigation and for more solid forensic evidence from the attack to emerge. Any plan by the United States and its allies to take military action was likely to be on hold until then, the source said.

Trump met at the White House with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. Trump gave no hints about potential U.S. action, but al-Thani told reporters, “We cannot tolerate, with a war criminal” like Assad.

The U.N. Security Council is due to vote on three draft resolutions on chemical weapons attacks in Syria on Tuesday, setting up a showdown between the United States and Russia.

The United States has requested the Security Council vote at 3 p.m. (1900 GMT) on a proposal for a new inquiry into chemical weapons in Syria. The resolution was likely to be blocked by Russia, which will put two draft resolutions on Syria of its own to a vote because it does not agree with the U.S. text, diplomats said.

“This is basically a diplomatic set-up,” said Richard Gowan, a U.N. expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

“Russia will inevitably veto the U.S. resolution criticizing Assad, and Washington will use this to justify military strikes,” he said. “A breakdown at the U.N. will also make it easier for France to justify strikes.”

Russian U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia accused the United States, France and Britain of stoking international tensions by engaging in a “confrontational policy” against Russia and Syria.

France said it would respond if it was proven that Assad’s forces carried out the attack.

A Russian warplane flew over a French warship at low altitude in the eastern Mediterranean this weekend, a deliberate breach of international regulations, a French naval source said on Tuesday.

The weekly magazine Le Point said the Russian plane had flown over the frigate Aquitaine and was fully armed. The Aquitaine is equipped with 16 cruise missiles and 16 surface-to-air missiles. It is currently operating off Lebanon alongside U.S. ships as part of France’s contingent fighting Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq.

A previous inquiry by the United Nations and the OPCW found the Syrian government used the nerve agent sarin in an attack in 2017, and had also used chlorine several times as a weapon.

Despite the international revulsion over the chemical weapons attacks, the death toll from such incidents is in the dozens, a fraction of the hundreds of thousands of combatants and civilians killed since the war began in 2011. </s> DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — A team of inspectors from the international chemical weapons watchdog was on its way to Syria on Thursday to begin an investigation into a suspected chemical weapons attack near the capital that has brought the war-torn country to the brink of a wider conflict, amid Western threats of retaliation and Russian warnings of the potential for "a dangerous escalation."

The fact-finding mission from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons was expected to head to Douma, where the suspected attack took place and where Russia said rebels had now capitulated to government control. The Syrian government said it would facilitate the mission's investigation, which was to begin Saturday.

Syria and its ally, Russia, deny any such attack, which activists say killed more than 43 people last weekend.

Speaking at the United Nations on Thursday, Russia's U.N. ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, said the top priority had to be to avert a wider war, and he didn't rule out the possibility of a U.S.-Russia conflict. Speaking to reporters after a closed emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council, Nebenzia said Russia was very concerned with "the dangerous escalation" of the situation and "aggressive policies" and preparations that some governments were making — a clear reference to the Trump administration and its allies.

"We hope that there will be no point of no return — that the U.S. and their allies will refrain from military action against a sovereign state," Nebenzia said, adding that "the danger of escalation is higher than simply Syria."

The imminent arrival of the chemical weapons inspectors came as rebels in Douma surrendered their weapons and left the town for opposition-held areas in the north. Russia's military said Thursday that Douma was now under full control of the Syrian government after a Russian-mediated deal secured the evacuation of the rebels and thousands of civilians after it was recaptured by Syrian forces.

Douma and the sprawling eastern Ghouta region near the capital, Damascus, had been under rebel control since 2012 and was a thorn in the side of President Bashar Assad's government, threatening his seat of power with missiles and potential advances for years. The government's capture of Douma, the last town held by the rebels in eastern Ghouta, marked a major victory for Assad.

Residents in Damascus, who had lived on edge for years because of mortar shells lobbed from eastern Ghouta, celebrated the news. Vehicles carrying Syrian flags were seen driving from Damascus into Douma, chanting in support of the government.

"This is a victory for Syria and the allies of Syria," declared Abboud Mardini, a 38-year old merchant in Damascus. "Eastern Ghouta was the main source of ... terrorists who from there spread throughout Syria."

There was no official government announcement that Douma had been recaptured and no indication that Syrian forces had yet entered the town, where Russian military police were deployed to preserve the peace after an evacuation fraught with difficulties. A single government flag was raised, a war monitoring group said.

Hamza Bayraqdar, spokesman for Jaysh al-Islam, the main rebel group that once controlled Douma, said his fighters had all evacuated. They handed over their heavy and medium weapons, as well as maps of land mines and the tunnels they dug, according to Syrian state media.

Douma and the rest of eastern Ghouta had been a significant rebel stronghold throughout Syria's civil war and its surrender came after years of siege by Assad's troops and a months-long military offensive. It followed weeks of negotiations mediated by Russia that repeatedly were derailed. A truce collapsed last week and the Syrian government pressed ahead with its military offensive.

Then came the suspected chemical attack in Douma, followed by international condemnation and threats of military action.

Amid conflicting tweets about the timing of any retaliation, President Donald Trump said Thursday that an attack on Syria could take place "very soon or not so soon at all." On Capitol Hill, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the National Security Council would be meeting later Thursday to present Trump with various options, adding that he could not talk about any military plans because an attack "is not yet in the offing."

Meanwhile, the British Cabinet on Thursday gave Prime Minister Theresa May the green light to work with the U.S. and France "to coordinate an international response," though it gave no indication of the timing or scale of any action.

President Emmanuel Macron said France had proof that the Syrian government had launched chlorine gas attacks in recent days, adding that his government would not tolerate "regimes that think everything is permitted," though he stopped short of saying whether France was planning military action.

In response to the threats, Assad said Thursday that a potential retaliation would be based on "lies" and would seek to undermine his forces' recent advances near Damascus. Western threats endanger international peace and security, Assad said, and military action would only contribute to the "further destabilization" of the region.

After the back-and-forth coming from Washington, Moscow and European Union capitals, residents in Damascus appeared to have brushed off the threat of an imminent attack.

The streets of Damascus were packed Thursday with people headed to the city's main market, cafes and restaurants. At Nabil Nafiseh, one of Damascus's most famous sweets shops, men, women and children sat outdoors enjoying the evening breeze and nibbling on Arab sweets.

Some residents were defiant. Real estate agent Ahmad Abdul-Rahman said he had brought his wife and three sons from his hometown of Aleppo, where there are no significant military targets, to Damascus to be together in case of an attack.

"I came here to defy the dogs who are threatening Syria," the 43-year-old said. "We don't care about America nor America's strike and we don't care about America's allies. We were not scared in Aleppo and we are not scared in Damascus."

Rafah al-Okda, a 21-year-old nursing student at Damascus University, said she had not changed her routine following the threats.

"Syria is a strong country, but our allies Russia and Iran make us stronger," she said.

Ahmad al-Issa, 46, ruled out a U.S. airstrike, saying Trump has in the past threatened to wipe North Korea off the map, then ended up calling for a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

"Even if he (Trump) fires what he calls smart bombs, at us they will be stupid bombs because they will backfire on him and Syrians will be stronger," al-Issa said.

El Deeb reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, Raf Casert in Brussels and Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, contributed to this report.

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