Showdown As West Seeks To Boost Powers Of Chemical Arms Watchdog

Britain and its allies were squaring off against Russia on Tuesday in a high-stakes diplomatic drive to give the world's global chemical watchdog the power to identify those behind toxic arms attacks.

The Hague, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Jun, 2018 ) :Britain and its allies were squaring off against Russia on Tuesday in a high-stakes diplomatic drive to give the world's global chemical watchdog the power to identify those behind toxic arms attacks.

The meeting opened in The Hague as inspectors from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) are also expected to unveil soon a long-awaited report into an alleged sarin and chlorine gas attack in April in the Syrian town of Douma.

Medics and rescuers say 40 people were killed.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was to head up his country's delegation to a rare special session of the OPCW's top policy-making body, and was due to address the session later in the day.

"We want to strengthen the Organisation entrusted with overseeing the ban on chemical weapons," the British delegation said in a tweet.

"We want to empower the @OPCW to identify those responsible for chemical weapons attacks."