DAMASCUS, April 12 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian Foreign Ministry has reiterated on Thursday the Syrian government's willingness to cooperate with an investigation team into the chemical attack allegations, according to the state news agency.
The team of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has planned to start its investigation into allegations of chemical weapons' use in the capital Damascus' eastern Douma district.
The ministry said the U.S. allegations of chemical weapons' use by the Syrian government forces in Douma is an attempt to mislead the public opinion to serve its "aggressive schemes."
Meanwhile, the ministry said that any delay in the arrival of the OPCW team would be blamed on the Western countries that want to hinder the mission.
The OPCW team has arrived in Beirut, Lebanon on Thursday and expected to come and start operating in Syria as of Saturday.
For his part, Bashar al-Jaafari, the permanent Syrian representative in the UN, said the Syrian government is ready to facilitate access of the OPCW team to any position in Douma, charging that the militants, who had been in control of that area, had obtained chemical materials from Libya in cooperation with Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
Last Saturday, the rebels in the formerly rebel-held Douma district of Damascus accused the Syrian forces of using chlorine gas, which led to the death of 40 people.
The Syrian government totally denied the claims, saying the rebels were fabricating incidents to attract foreign strikes on Syria.
U.S. President Donald Trump has overtly talked about his country's willingness to strike Syria, garnering support and the participation of other Western countries to take part in the planned strike.
For his side, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Thursday that any possible attack would only cause further instability of the region, which could threaten the international peace and security.
