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The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) will embark upon a mission to Douma, as a means of addressing chemical weapon allegations.

Officials said the OPCW Technical Secretariat has requested the Syrian Arab Republic make the necessary arrangements for such a deployment. The request coincides with an appeal from the Syrian Arab Republic and the Russian Federation to investigate the allegations of chemical weapons use in Douma.

The OPCW Fact Finding Mission (FFM) is designed to establish facts surrounding allegations of using toxic chemicals, reportedly chlorine, for hostile purposes in the Syrian Arab Republic.

The OPCW cannot and will not release information about an ongoing investigation. This policy exists to preserve the integrity of the investigatory process and its results as well as to ensure the safety and security of OPCW experts and personnel involved. All parties are asked to respect the confidentiality parameters required for a rigorous and unimpeded investigation.

The OPCW is responsible for overseeing the global undertaking to permanently and verifiably eliminate chemical weapons. It is the most successful disarmament treaty eliminating an entire class of weapons of mass destruction.

Officials said 96 percent of all chemical weapon stockpiles declared by possessor States have been destroyed under OPCW verification. The OPCW received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2013.