THE HAGUE, April 9. /TASS/. The Director-General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Ambassador Ahmet Uzumcu, expressed his grave concern in response to the alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma, Syria on 7 April.
"The OPCW Situation Centre has been closely monitoring the incident and made a preliminary analysis of the reports of the alleged use of chemical weapons immediately after they were issued. The Fact Finding Mission (FFM) is in the process of gathering further information from all available sources to establish whether chemical weapons were used. The FFM will report its findings to States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention," he said in a statement.
A number of non-governmental organizations, including the White Helmets, have alleged that chemical weapons were used in Douma, Eastern Ghouta, on April 7. According to the statement placed on that organization’s website on April 8 chlorine bombs had been dropped on the city killing dozens and poisoning other locals who had to be brought to hospital. The Russian Foreign Ministry dismissed that as fake news. The Defense Ministry added that the White Helmets were notorious for spreading falsehoods. Earlier, several Russian official agencies repeatedly warned that preparations were underway in different parts of Syria for provocations and simulated chemical weapons attacks, which would be blamed on government troops.