Syria ready for UN to investigate chemical arms
Syria has agreed to receive a United Nations team to investigate claims of the use of chemical weapons in the country's conflict. That is according to its deputy Foreign Minister, Faisal Muqdad.
The Syrian government first asked for the inquiry shortly after accusing opposition rebels of using chemical weapons at Khan al-Assal near Aleppo on March 23, in an attack in which authorities said more than 30 people died.
Muqdad's permission for the UN investigation comes after Israel reportedly targeted military sites near the capital Damascus early on Friday morning and again early on Sunday morning, with at least 42 soldiers said to have been killed in the second strike.
Meanwhile Syria mediator, Lakhdar Brahimi, has agreed to stay on in his role despite threatening to quit several times over his frustration at the international deadlock that has prevented UN action to halt the two-year-old civil war.