UNITED NATIONS, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Syria has accepted Ake Sellstrom, the newly-appointed head of the United Nations panel for investigation into alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky confirmed here Wednesday.
Nesirky made the confirmation at a daily news briefing here in response to a press question, saying that "the United Nations was working quickly to get the mission working."
Sellstrom, a Swedish scientist, was appointed earlier this week by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to lead the UN technical mission going to Syria. The panel has been set up at a formal request from the Syrian government.
"The investigation will be carried out under the secretary- general's Mechanism, the terms of which are laid out in a General Assembly resolution," Nesirky said.
According to him, the newly formed panel is staffed with personnel, including experts from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and World Health Organization (WHO), who are specialists in determining whether chemical weapons have been used.
Nesirky also clarified that "this is not a criminal investigation and is not to determine blame for any attack."
At present, no timetable was announced for the UN fact-finding panel.
In an interview with the UN Radio on Tuesday, however, Sellstrom said, "The mission will happen in a week's time or so. It's a matter of days." "It is not the role of this mission to apportion responsibility or blame," he said. "It's not a criminal investigation. It's looking at whether chemical weapons were used, and not by whom."
At least 25 people were killed and 130 others wounded on March 19 when armed men fired a rocket stuffed with chemical materials at the Khan al-Asal town in Aleppo, said Syrian state media reports, claiming opposition fighters were responsible. However, the rebels denied the accusations and instead accused the government of committing the misdeed.
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