Global watchdog: There's 'incontrovertible' evidence sarin was used in Syria chemical weapons attack

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A civil defence member breathes through an oxygen mask, after what rescue workers described as a suspected gas attack in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in rebel-held Idlib, Syria April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah

Thomson Reuters

A civil defence member breathes through an oxygen mask, after what rescue workers described as a suspected gas attack in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in rebel-held Idlib

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AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Sarin or a similar banned toxin was used in an attack in Syria's Idlib province on April 4 that killed nearly 90 people, the global chemical weapons watchdog said on Wednesday.

The finding supported earlier testing by Turkish and British laboratories.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons' Director General Ahmet Uzumcu said results of the analysis "indicate that sarin or a sarin like substance was used".

"While further details of the laboratory analyses will follow, the analytical results already obtained are incontrovertible," Uzumcu said.

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The finding was based on tests on bio-medical samples collected from three victims during their autopsies that were analyzed at two OPCW-designated laboratories, the OPCW said.

"Bio-medical samples from seven individuals undergoing treatment at hospitals ... (also) indicate exposure to sarin or a sarin like substance," Uzumcu said.

The US launched 59 cruise missiles on Shayrat airfield and nearby military infrastructure controlled by Syrian President Bashar Assad in response to the attack earlier this month.

"No child of god should suffer such horror," US President Donald Trump said, following the strike. "It is in this vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons."

(Reporting by Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Alison Williams)

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