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On April 12, a first group of inspectors of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) arrived to Syria, the France Press Agency (AFP) reported.

The AFP said the OPCW fact-finding committee is set to start investigating the alleged chemical attack in Duma district on April 14.

Earlier, Syria’s UN ambassador Bashar Jaafari welcomed the OPCW investigation committee and revealed that Damascus is expecting a second group of inspectors to arrive on April 13.

“These two groups will arrive separately to Syria on Thursday as well as tomorrow, on Friday … We will facilitate the arrival of the team to anywhere they want, in Duma, to check whether or not there was use of chemical substances,” Jaafari told reporters during a press conference, according to the Daily Mail.

Meanwhile, an unnamed official of the Syrian Foreign Ministry said that Syria would hold the West responsible for any delay in the arrival of the OPCW fact-finding mission. The official also accused Western states of working to hinder the OPCW mission in Syria.

The arrival of the OPCW inspectors to Syria could delay any possible military actions of the US and allies. The fact-finding mission is expected to last for few days only as Duma district is now fully secured and nothing could disturb the OPCW work, unlike the situation in 2013.

Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said that no decision had been reached by President Donald Trump about a strike on Syria. Mattis added that the US is still searching evidence of the attack.

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