Chemical watchdog looks to exhume bodies in Douma probe

Chemical weapons inspectors are reportedly preparing to exhume bodies as part of their investigation into the suspected attacks on the Syrian town of Douma last month.

Ahmet Uzumcu, head of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), told the Financial Times on Thursday that the organisation is taking the unprecedented measure as it conducts the "very sensitive" investigation.

“From the bodies already buried we are looking for ways to exhume if possible and take some biomedical samples,” Uzumcu was quoted as saying.

“It is a very sensitive process. That’s why we are very cautious. Although our experts have been able to attend some autopsies in the past this is going to be the first time we have exhumed bodies.”

The OPCW's investigation into the alleged attacks which killed at least 70 people on 7 April was delayed by a week after obfuscation by Syria and its Russian ally.

While Russian military chemists and some Western journalists were given access to the town, inspectors were left waiting to enter the Russian and Syrian-government held area after their security team came under fire.

The US and France accused Syria and Russia of tampering and destroying evidence while the OPCW team, invited by the Syrian government, waited in Damascus.

But even with the delays, chemical weapons experts told MEE last month that useful evidence could still be gathered, in particular from the bodies of the survivors and the dead.

"Victims of the attack, whether dead or alive, if they can be found and a sample can be taken from them, that would provide a firm basis," Dan Smith, director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, told MEE.

But at this point, it is likely that biomedical samples would only show evidence of a potent nerve agent sarin or potentially other agents, but not chlorine, which many, including investigative site Bellingcat, believe to be the most likely chemical used.

"You can’t prove chlorine at this point, even if you dig up dead bodies," Dan Kaszeta, a chemical weapons expert at Strongpoint Security, told MEE.

"It blows away in the wind," he said. "If you take a bunch of swimming pool water and throw it on the ground and wait three days, it would look exactly the same."

Uzumcu told the FT he had not been able to verify allegations that the OPCW was blocked or that evidence had been removed. His organisation expects to have a report on its investigation within a month.