DAMASCUS: Two UN envoys were in Damascus on Wednesday on a mission to persuade Assad’s regime to let in inspectors to investigate alleged chemical attacks during the 28-month conflict.

Anti-Assad fighters have accused Damascus of using chemical weapons in the drawn-out conflict which has seen more than 100,000 people killed.

Swedish scientist Ake Sellstrom and Angela Kane, the UN high representative for disarmament, arrived from Beirut for the talks, which the United Nations has been pushing for since April.

They were likely to meet Foreign Minister Walid Muallem later in the day, a source close to the UN delegation told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The visit came as opposition leaders met French President Francois Hollande in Paris as part of their efforts to secure Western as well as Gulf Arab weapons.

The United Nations accepted an invitation from the Syrian government for the visit by the two envoys on July 11, with the limited brief of “completing the consultations on the modalities” of an inspection mission.

The United States has accused forces loyal to Assad of making limited use of its chemical weapons stockpiles during the conflict, a finding backed by several other Western governments.

Damascus has said any investigation should focus on the use of chemical weapons in the northern town of Khan Al-Assal in in March, which it and Russia blamed on the fighters.

The town was captured by fighters on Monday.

“If the government does not control Khan Al-Assal then there is little chance they will let UN experts in,” said one UN Security Council diplomat.

The United Nations has received 13 allegations of the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon is “gravely concerned” by the allegations, UN envoy on the Middle East peace process Robert Serry told the Security Council on Tuesday.

The United States has previously said that the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian conflict would constitute a “red line” that would warrant greater involvement.

The capture of Khan Al-Assal marked the first step in the offensive, the source added.

New opposition chief Ahmad Jarba and Free Syrian Army leader Gen. Selim Idriss met Hollande on Wednesday to push him to agree to supply arms as well as non-lethal supplies to the fighters.

The opposition was “working with our European and American friends to obtain technical, medical and humanitarian assistance and, we hope, also weapons and ammunition” as the rebels did “not have enough,” Idriss said.

After France, Jarba will head to New York for meetings at the United Nations.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said eight militant groups, including the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front, had set up a “common operations room in Aleppo city.”