Syria chemical weapons visit to Douma postponed amid gunfire

A visit by international chemical weapons inspectors to the location of a suspected gas attack in the Syrian town of Douma was delayed on Wednesday after gunfire at the site during a visit by UN security personnel.

Syrian state media reported on Tuesday that inspectors from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) had entered the town of Douma, but Syria's UN ambassador, Bashar Jaafari, later said that only a UN advance security team had entered.

The UN security team encountered a "security issue", including gunfire, which led to the delay, one source told Reuters.

Another said that the UN team was met by protesters demanding aid and that gunfire was heard, prompting the team to leave.

A UN source said separately that the OPCW inspectors would probably not be going to Douma on Wednesday, without providing details of the shooting reports.

The inspectors arrived in Damascus at the weekend.

Chemical attack responders 'intimidated' ahead of visit

The suspected chemical attack on 7 April killed dozens of people in Douma, medical relief organisations said.

It led to the rebel group that controlled Douma agreeing to surrender control of the town to the Syrian government.

The government and its Russian allies say the attack was fabricated as a pretext to justify military strikes that were launched on Saturday by the United States, Britain and France.

Russia has used its veto 12 times at the Security Council to block action targeting its Syrian ally. 

France has said it was very likely that evidence of the poison gas attack was disappearing before the inspectors could reach the town.

The United States accused Russia on Monday of blocking international inspectors from reaching the site of the suspected poison gas attack in Syria and said Russians or Syrians may have tampered with evidence on the ground.

Dr Ghanem Tayara, the director of the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organisations (UOSSM), told The Guardian that first responders at the scene of the attack have been intimated by Syrian officials to keep silent.

Doctors who treated patients in the hours following the attack have been told their families are at risk if they offered public testimonies about what took place, Tayara said.

A number of doctors who spoke to The Guardian claim intimidation by regime officials has increased since the attack took place, with medics attempting to leave Douma searched for samples from the site.

Regime officials also searched the Whatsapp messages on their phones and told doctors they would be detained if they gave interviews or evidence about the attack.

Russian military police were present and heavily involved, the doctors said.