UN has valuable chemical evidence despite attack

UN experts in Syria gathered “valuable” evidence Monday on a suspected chemical weapons attack near Damascus despite coming under sniper fire, UN officials said. Unidentified attackers fired at a UN convoy as it tried to approach Ghouta, east of Damascus, hitting the tires and front window of the lead vehicle, said a UN spokesman, Farhan Haq, reported AFP. The team made a new attempt to reach the scene of last week’s attack, in which hundreds of people are said to have died, and visited two hospitals, Haq added. “It was a very productive day and once (the team) has made its evaluations it does intend to continue its work tomorrow,” the spokesman told reporters. The team, led by Swedish expert Ake Sellstrom, is “already gathering valuable evidence,” said the spokesman. UN leader Ban Ki-moon said that despite the “very dangerous circumstances”, the investigators “visited two hospitals, they interviewed witnesses, survivors and doctors, they also collected some samples.”