WHO working with Syrian govt to access Douma

The World Health Organization (WHO) still doesn’t have access to the town of Douma in Syria, the agency said on Tuesday. However, the WHO is working with the country’s authorities to arrange a visit for a health assessment mission to the site of the alleged chemical attack as soon as possible, spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told RIA Novosti. The WHO mission would work in Douma separately from the mission of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the spokesman said. Also on Tuesday, Russian permanent representative to the UN office in Geneva, Gennady Gatilov, said that the Syrian authorities had created conditions for the normal work of the OPCW in Douma. The previous day, the UK delegation to the OPCW said that Russia and Syria had not yet provided access for the OPCW’s mission to Douma, an allegation rejected by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov.