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United Nations inspectors are to be
granted access to the site of an alleged chemical weapons attack near
Damascus, Syrian state TV has said, with the UN saying that the Syrian
government has also agreed to observe a ceasefire during the visit.It followed an agreement between the Syrian foreign minister and the head of a UN delegation to the country on Sunday.
The agreement "is effective immediately and it will allow UN delegation to investigate allegations of using chemical weapons on August 22 in Damascus suburbs," the state TV reported.
The alleged chemical weapons attack in al-Ghouta, on Wednesday killed 355 people, according to aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres.
The state TV report further said that the two parties agreed to cooperate on time and exact hour of the visit.
A UN statement said the inspectors were preparing to conduct "on-site fact-finding activities starting tomorrow, Monday, 26 August".
A team of UN inspectors arrived in the Syrian capital last week to investigate claims of chemical weapons use by opposition fighters and the Syrian government, which UN officials originally said would last two weeks and cover three sites.
The Syrian government has denied responsibility for Wednesday's attack and blamed the rebels fighting Assad's forces of the same. The rebels have, however, held the regime forces responsible for the attack.
Pressure mounts
The alleged chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburb has spurred calls for global action against the Syrian regime.
US President Barack Obama has been under mounting pressure to act. As the opposition Syrian National Council called on major powers to intervene in Syria, Obama on Saturday met senior security officials to consider US options on how to respond to the crisis.
Earlier, the US boosted its naval presence in the region, a move which the US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said gave the president greater flexibility.
Meanwhile, Israel on Sunday called for chemical weapons to be "taken out" of Syria.
"The time has come to make a joint effort to take out all the chemical weapons from Syria," Israeli President Shimon Peres said.
"It's very complicated, very expensive, but it will be more expensive and more dangerous to keep" the situation as it is, he said.
Israeli Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, also called for immediate steps. "Our finger or our hand is always on the pulse. Our finger is on the trigger but is always responsible ... This situation must not continue," he said.
Syria, however, has said that any US attack on the country would trigger dangerous consequences.
In an interview with the Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen TV, Syrian information minister Omran al-Zoubi said a US attack would spawn more violence in the region.
"The basic repercussion would be a ball of fire that would burn not only Syria but the whole Middle East," he said. "An attack on Syria would be no easy trip."
In Tehran, Abbas Arakji, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman warned that a US military intervention in Syria would "complicate matters".
"Sending warships will not solve the problems but will worsen the situation," Arakji said in comments carried by Iran's Arabic-language TV Al-Alam.
He said any such US move does not have international backing and that Iran "rejects military solutions".
aljazeera.com
25/8/13
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- Armes chimiques : "sous pression", le régime syrien autorise l'ONU à enquêter
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