DAMASCUS: The Syrian Foreign Ministry says talks with a UN delegation tasked with investigating chemical weapons allegations in the nation’s civil war have “resulted in an agreement on ways of moving forward.”
A joint statement by the ministry and the UN that appeared on Syria’s official Sana news agency’s website on Saturday says the UN team met with Foreign Minister Walid Al Mu’allem earlier this week. It did not elaborate. Damascus has asked the UN to investigate an alleged chemical attack in Khan Al Assal, a village in the north. The Syrian regime and rebels accuse each other of using chemical agents in a March 19 incident.
President Bashar Al Assad’s government refused to have a possible inquiry include other alleged chemical attack sites.
Meanwhile, Syrian regime forces backed by Hezbollah now control half of the Khaldiyah district of Homs after ousting rebels in fierce fighting in the central city, a watchdog said on Saturday.
“Loyalist forces backed by fighters from Hezbollah have advanced over the last 24 hours and now control 50 per cent of Khaldiyah,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
