Chemical weapons team ‘safe and well’

A team of 11 chemical weapons inspectors feared kidnapped in Syria are now safe and well, it has been reported.Earlier reports from the Syrian government suggested that the team, which included six weapons experts and five drivers, had been abducted in the countryside near Hama in the central region of the country.But the watchdog that is overseeing the dismantling of Syria's chemical weapons programme has confirmed that all are safe and well and returning to base.The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said the inspectors had been travelling to the site of an alleged chlorine gas attack site when the incident happened.State media had reported that a bomb had exploded beside one of their vehicles after they had left their government escort outside Tayyiba Imam.But OPCW Director-General, Ambassador Ahmet Üzümcü, has confirmed in a statement that the inspectors are 'safe and well'.'Our inspectors are in Syria to establish the facts in relation to persistent allegations of chlorine gas attack,' he said.'Their safety is our primary concern, and it is imperative that all parties to the conflict grant them safe and secure access.'(dailymail.co.uk)Bakudaily.az