Western strikes 'attempt to derail OPCW investigation'

The chairman of the international affairs committee of Russia's upper house of parliament, Konstantin Kosachev, has said the strikes by the US, UK and France are a groundless attack on a sovereign government, the Interfax news agency reports.

"It's also highly likely an attempt to create complications for the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons mission which was just starting its work in Syria's Douma, or an attempt to completely derail it," he is quoted as saying.

Experts from the OPCW are scheduled to visit the previously rebel-held town of Douma on Saturday to try to ascertain whether chemical weapons were used in an attack last Saturday that opposition activists, medics and rescue workers say killed more than 40 people.

The Syrian government has said the incident was fabricated, while its ally Russia has said it was staged with the help of the UK.

SOURCE: BBC News
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