Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby called on Wednesday for United Nations inspectors to immediately investigate reports of a chemical attack near the Syrian capital that activists say has killed more than 200 people, Egypt’s state news agency said, according to a Reuters report.
Acitivists in Syria however have said the death toll has reached 650, according to AFP.
“The secretary general said in a statement he was surprised this deplorable crime would happen during the visit of a team of international investigators with the United Nations who are already tasked with investigating chemical weapons use,” Reuters quoted official news agency Mena as saying.
“He called on the inspectors to head immediately to the eastern Ghouta (suburb of Damascus) to determine what happened.”
French President Francois Hollande has also called on UN inspectors to visit the site, overnment spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem told AFP Wednesday.
During a cabinet session, Hollande “announced his intention to ask the UN to visit the site of the attack,” she told reporters, adding: “This information obviously requires verification and confirmation.”
