A convoy of chemical weapons inspectors and UN staff that was travelling to a site of an alleged chlorine gas attack in Syria has come under attack.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said they were all safe and well, and were travelling back to their operating base.
It did not say whether they had been kidnapped in Hama province, as the Syrian government earlier claimed.
OPCW director general, Ahmet Uzumcu, expressed his concern for their safety.
'Our inspectors are in Syria to establish the facts in relation to persistent allegations of chlorine gas attacks,' he said in a statement.
'Their safety is our primary concern, and it is imperative that all parties to the conflict grant them safe and secure access.'
'Hijacked'
The OPCW inspectors were trying to reach the rebel-held village of Kafr Zaita, where there have been six alleged chlorine attacks in two months.
The first report of the attack on their convoy came from the Syrian foreign ministry, which said six inspectors had been 'kidnapped' along with their five Syrian drivers.
The state news agency, Sana, quoted a statement as saying that shortly after leaving their government escort on Tuesday morning in the village Tayyiba Imam, a bomb had exploded beside one of the four UN-marked vehicles in the convoy.
The remaining three vehicles then turned around and headed back to Tayyiba Imam,.