Syria crisis: 'Hard task for UN inspectors' - Hans Blix

A team of UN inspectors due to visit the site of an alleged chemical attack near Damascus will have a hard task establishing the facts, a former UN weapons inspector has said.

Hans Blix, who led a team searching for chemical weapons in Iraq, said restrictions on movements and security risks made the Syrian inspectors' job more difficult.

The US says there is little doubt Syrian forces used chemical weapons in the attack.

But in an interview with a Russian newspaper, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad described claims that his forces were behind the attack as "an insult to common sense".