AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A team of inspectors from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) visited a site in Douma, Syria on Saturday to collect samples as it tries to determine whether such weapons were used there on April 7, the agency said.

In a statement, the OPCW said it would now evaluate and consider whether the team needs to make a second visit to Douma.

Samples will be transported back to the Netherlands and onward to the organization’s network of designated labs for analysis.

Based on the analysis of the sample results as well other information and materials collected by the team, the mission would compile a report and submit it to the organization’s member states, the statement said.

The OPCW has been investigating use of toxic chemicals in Syria’s civil war since 2014. Inspectors had been trying to reach Douma for several days but were delayed after an advance security detail was fired upon on April 17.

The OPCW team will attempt to determine whether chemical weapons were used and if so, which. It is not mandated to conclude which side in the conflict used them. </s> A Syrian flag flutters along a damaged street at the city of Douma in Damascus Thomson Reuters AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A team of inspectors from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) visited a site in Douma, Syria on Saturday to collect samples as it tries to determine whether such weapons were used there on April 7, the agency said.

In a statement, the OPCW said it would now evaluate and consider whether the team needs to make a second visit to Douma.

Samples will be transported back to the Netherlands and onward to the organization's network of designated labs for analysis.

Based on the analysis of the sample results as well other information and materials collected by the team, the mission would compile a report and submit it to the organization's member states, the statement said.

The OPCW has been investigating use of toxic chemicals in Syria's civil war since 2014. Inspectors had been trying to reach Douma for several days but were delayed after an advance security detail was fired upon on April 17.

The OPCW team will attempt to determine whether chemical weapons were used and if so, which. It is not mandated to conclude which side in the conflict used them. </s> THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The global chemical weapons watchdog said Friday it found "reasonable grounds" that chlorine was used as a weapon in an attack on the Syrian town of Douma last year.

The finding was contained in a detailed report by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons' fact finding mission that investigated the attack on April 7, 2018. Medical workers said at the time that the attack killed more than 40 people.

In a statement, the OPCW said the mission visited Douma, analyzed samples taken from the scene and from people affected, interviewed witnesses and studied toxicological and ballistics analyses.

The data, it said, provided "reasonable grounds that the use of a toxic chemical as a weapon" took place.

"This toxic chemical contained reactive chlorine. The toxic chemical was likely molecular chlorine."

The Fact Finding Mission's mandate does not include laying blame for the attack.

The United States, Britain and France blamed Syrian government forces for the attack and launched punitive airstrikes. Syria denied responsibility.

Douma was the final target of the government's sweeping campaign to seize back control of the eastern Ghouta suburbs of Damascus from rebels after seven years of revolt. Militants gave up the town days after the alleged attack.

The OPCW said the report has been sent to the United Nations Security Council.

Russia, a staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, also rejected claims that Syria was responsible for the attack and even brought what it called witnesses to The Hague to describe their experiences. </s> THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - The global chemical weapons watchdog said Friday it found "reasonable grounds" that chlorine was used as a weapon in an attack on the Syrian town of Douma last year.

The finding was contained in a detailed report by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons' fact finding mission that investigated the attack on April 7, 2018. Medical workers said at the time that the attack killed more than 40 people.

In a statement, the OPCW said the mission visited Douma, analyzed samples taken from the scene and from people affected, interviewed witnesses and studied toxicological and ballistics analyses.

The data, it said, provided "reasonable grounds that the use of a toxic chemical as a weapon" took place.

"This toxic chemical contained reactive chlorine. The toxic chemical was likely molecular chlorine."

The Fact Finding Mission's mandate does not include laying blame for the attack.

FILE - In this Monday, April 16, 2018 file photo, people stand in front of damaged buildings, in the town of Douma, the site of a suspected chemical weapons attack, near Damascus, Syria. The global chemical weapons watchdog says an investigation has found "reasonable grounds" that chlorine was used as a weapon in an attack on the Syrian town of Douma last year. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons issued a final report Friday, March 1, 2019 of its Fact Finding Mission probe into the attack on April 2018. The United States, Britain and France blamed Syrian government forces for the attack and launched punitive airstrikes. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

The United States, Britain and France blamed Syrian government forces for the attack and launched punitive airstrikes. Syria denied responsibility.

Douma was the final target of the government's sweeping campaign to seize back control of the eastern Ghouta suburbs of Damascus from rebels after seven years of revolt. Militants gave up the town days after the alleged attack.

The OPCW said the report has been sent to the United Nations Security Council.

Russia, a staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, also rejected claims that Syria was responsible for the attack and even brought what it called witnesses to The Hague to describe their experiences. </s> THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The global chemical weapons watchdog says it has found “reasonable grounds” that chlorine was used as a weapon in an attack on the Syrian town of Douma last year.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons issued a final report Friday of its Fact Finding Mission’s probe into the attack on April 7, 2018.

The United States, Britain and France blamed Syrian government forces for the attack and launched punitive airstrikes. Syria denied responsibility.

The Fact Finding Mission’s mandate does not include laying blame for the attack. </s> THE HAGUE, Netherlands —1 March 2019—The Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), issued today the final report on the FFM’s investigation regarding the incident of alleged use of toxic chemicals as a weapon in Douma, Syrian Arab Republic, on 7 April 2018.

The FFM’s activities regarding this allegation included on-site visits to collect environmental samples, conduct witness interviews and gather data. The FFM further analysed a range of inputs including witness testimonies, environmental and biomedical samples analysis results, toxicological and ballistic analyses, and additional digital information from witnesses.

Regarding the alleged use of toxic chemicals as a weapon in Douma, the evaluation and analysis of all the above-referenced information gathered by the FFM provide reasonable grounds that the use of a toxic chemical as a weapon has taken place on 7 April 2018. This toxic chemical contained reactive chlorine. The toxic chemical was likely molecular chlorine.

The FFM’s report on the allegation of chemical weapons use in Douma has been shared with States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention and they will soon receive a briefing at OPCW Headquarters in The Hague. The report was also transmitted to the UN Security Council through the UN Secretary-General.

Background

In response to persistent allegations of chemical weapon attacks in Syria, the OPCW Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) was set up in 2014 with an on-going mandate “to establish facts surrounding allegations of the use of toxic chemicals, reportedly chlorine, for hostile purposes in the Syrian Arab Republic”.

The FFM’s mandate is to determine whether chemical weapons or toxic chemicals as weapons have been used in Syria. It does not include identifying who is responsible for alleged attacks. The FFM is required to study available information relating to allegations of use of chemical weapons in Syria, including information provided by the Syrian Arab Republic and others. The FFM employs investigative methods to determine if chemical weapons have been used. It interviews witnesses and obtains environmental and bio-medical samples and physical evidence for analysis.

Following the Decision on “Addressing the threat from chemical weapons use”, adopted by the Conference of the States Parties at its Special Session in June 2018, the Technical Secretariat is putting in place arrangements to identify the perpetrators of the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic.

On 6 July 2018, the FFM issued an interim report on the investigation regarding the allegations of chemical weapons use in Douma in April 2018.

The FFM has previously determined that the use of chlorine, sulfur mustard, and sarin as chemical weapons took place in other incidents in the Syrian Arab Republic.

The OPCW operates according to a strict confidentiality regime, which governs the operations of the Organisation, protects the integrity of its investigations, ensures the security of its technical experts, and determines what information can be made public.

As the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, the OPCW, with its 193 Member States, oversees the global endeavour to permanently eliminate chemical weapons. Since the Convention’s entry into force in 1997, with 193 State Parties, it is the most successful disarmament treaty eliminating an entire class of weapons of mass destruction.

Over 96% of all chemical weapon stockpiles declared by possessor States have been destroyed under OPCW verification. For its extensive efforts in eliminating chemical weapons, the OPCW received the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize.

More Information

Note by the Technical Secretariat: Report of the Fact-Finding Mission Regarding the Incident of Alleged Use of Toxic Chemicals as a Weapon in Douma, Syrian Arab Republic, on 7 April 2018

OPCW Issues Fact-Finding Mission Reports on Chemical Weapons Use Allegations in Douma, Syria in 2018 and in Al-Hamadaniya and Karm Al-Tarrab in 2016

Note by the Technical Secretariat: Interim Report on the Progress of the Fact-Finding Mission Regarding an Incident of Alleged Use of Toxic Chemicals as a Weapon in Douma, Syrian Arab Republic, on 7 April 2018

Fact-Finding Mission

OPCW Fact Sheets </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> Chlorine was used in an attack on the Syrian town of Douma in April 2018, although there was no evidence of nerve agent, the world’s chemical weapons watchdog said Friday in a final report on the incident.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said there were “reasonable grounds that the use of a toxic chemical as a weapon has taken place on 7 April 2018. This toxic chemical contained reactive chlorine.”

The long-awaited findings confirmed an interim report released in July on the attack, which medics said killed about 40 people when a cylinder containing poison gas landed on the roof of a housing block.

The report does not place blame because it was not in the OPCW’s remit at the time, although the watchdog has since been given powers to investigate responsibility for all chemical attacks in Syria back to 2014.

A team of OPCW inspectors took more than 100 samples from some seven sites in Douma when they gained access to the town several weeks after the attack.

The team also interviewed witnesses and carried out a series of tests including toxicological and ballistic analysis, said the watchdog based in The Hague.

Russia, which backs the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, swiftly rejected the OPCW report, saying that it was “staged” by Syrian rescue volunteers known as the White Helmets.

“In spite of all the evidence presented by Russia, Syria, and even British journalists that the Douma incident is no more than ‘White helmets’ staged provocation, Technical Secretariat of OPCW states in today’s report that chlorine was used in Douma as a chemical weapon,” the Russian Embassy in The Hague tweeted. </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.

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The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons takes samples from the site of a chemical weapons attack in Douma, Syria.