Weapons monitors assessing Syrian claims

THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- A weapons monitoring group in The Hague, Netherlands, said Tuesday it was reviewing the draft decision to eliminate chemical weapons from Syria.

The U.S. and Russian governments brokered a deal that calls for weapons inspectors in Syria. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, based in The Hague, said last week it started receiving weapons declarations from the Syrian government.

"OPCW states parties continue to consult on the text of the draft decision on the elimination of Syrian chemical weapons," the organization said in a statement.

The United Nations last week confirmed the large-scale use of the chemical nerve agent sarin on a Damascus suburb in August. A U.N. inspection team probing chemical weapons in Syria is not mandated to assess blame.

U.S. President Obama told the U.N. General Assembly the Security Council has so far failed to live up to its responsibility to respond to the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Washington blames the Syrian government for the attack.

"The Security Council had indicated no inclination to act at all," he said Tuesday.

A statement from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's office said U.N. weapons inspectors are headed to Wednesday to Syria to continue their investigation.

"The responsibility of verifying the inventory and elimination of Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles belongs with the OPCW," he said. "This task is beyond the scope of the U.N. mission's mandate, which is to investigate allegations of the use of chemical weapons."