Syria Allows UN Visit To 'Chemical Attack' Site

United Nations weapons experts will visit the site of an alleged poison gas attack in Syria to conduct investigations on Monday.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's office has said in a statement that Syria has promised to observe a ceasefire at the site in the suburbs of Damascus while the team begins "on-site fact-finding activities".

The UN experts arrived in Damascus three days before a mass poisoning killed several hundred people on Wednesday.

The announcement comes after Syria warned the US against taking military action against the regime, saying it would "create a ball of fire that will inflame the Middle East".

Prime Minister David Cameron and President Barack Obama say they are "gravely concerned" about signs that an alleged chemical weapons attack took place in Syria.

The two leaders spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper by telephone last night as calls increased for UN investigators to be allowed access to the site of the alleged attack.

Doctors Without Borders has said 355 people died in the attack

Mr Cameron also spoke to France's President Francois Hollande on Sunday to discuss the crisis in Syria.

A Downing Street spokesman said: "In a telephone call this morning, the Prime Minister and President Hollande reiterated their strong condemnation of the attack that took place in Damascus on Wednesday.

"They agreed that the failure of the regime to grant UN investigators immediate access to the area was extremely worrying and demonstrated that the regime was hiding the facts and evidence."

The US President and his top advisers are continuing to explore options for responding to the attack, with the White House saying there is "very little doubt" the regime has used chemical weapons against its citizens.

But in remarks released by Syria's official SANA news agency, Syrian Information Minister Omran Zoabi said that any US-led military action would be "no picnic".

The attacks took place in the Damascus suburbs of Zamalka and Ein Tarma

"US military intervention will create a very serious fallout and a ball of fire that will inflame the Middle East," Mr Zoabi said.

Iran has also warned the US not to cross the "red line" on Syria, saying it would have "severe consequences", according to the Fars news agency.

Meanwhile, the al Qaeda-linked Syrian jihadist group Al Nusra Front has also vowed to carry out strikes against villages from Assad's community as revenge for the chemical attacks.

"The Alawite villages will pay the price for each chemical rocket that struck our people in Damascus," Al Nusra front chief Abu Mohammed al Jawlani said in an audio message posted on his Twitter account.

Mr Jazayeri was reacting to statements made by Western officials regarding the possibility of military intervention in Syria, according to Fars.

Earlier, Iranian Press TV reported that Damascus had told Tehran it would allow inspectors to visit the site of the alleged chemical attack.

A boy recovers after the alleged toxic gas attack on Wednesday

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said the American military is ready to exercise "options" on Syria should force be called for, but he declined to say what that action might be.

He is under mounting pressure to act over the alleged use of chemical weapons, which humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders said had killed 355 people due to "neurotoxic" symptoms.

The group says it has treated more than 3,500 people showing symptoms of exposure to a "neurotoxic" agent.

Christopher Stokes from the charity told Sky News: "The situation (on the ground in Syria) is quite confusing.

"We've spent the last three to four days in contact with Syrian doctors that we've been working with for six months in and around Damascus to try and piece together what happened last Wednesday.

"Basically what they've reported to us are consistent signs of the same symptoms across a large number of patients that would indicate a large scale exposure to a neurotoxic agent."

Rebel groups have claimed the attack was carried out by Assad's forces and that more than 1,000 people had died. The Syrian regime has denied the allegations.

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