Moscow Wants UN Inspectors Back in Syria – Minister

MOSCOW, September 9 (RIA Novosti) – Russia wants the United Nations to continue its investigation of all reports of chemical attacks in Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday, including a contentious August 21 attack that Moscow and Washington have attributed to opposing forces in the protracted conflict.

“We’ve … agreed to seek the speedy return of UN inspectors [to Syria] to finish work concerning all cases of use of chemical weapons or reports of such attacks,” Lavrov said after a meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem in Moscow.

The UN dispatched a team of experts to Syria at the end of last month following reports that hundreds of civilians were killed in a chemical attack outside Damascus on August 21.

However, the experts – who have yet to disclose their findings – were only tasked with confirming the attack took place, not naming the perpetrators.

“We have reasons to believe that this intention may be obstructed,” Lavrov said about the planned return of UN inspectors to Syria, announced last week by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. “We will be resolutely pushing for the inspectors to finish their work.”

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20130909/183300328/Moscow-Wants-UN-Inspectors-Back-in-Syria--Minister.html