UNITED NATIONS - The samples collected by UN inspectors from the site of the alleged August 21 chemical weapons attacks in Syria were shipped from The Hague, the Netherlands, on Monday afternoon and will reach their designated laboratories "within hours", said a UN spokesman.    

"The samples were shipped this afternoon from The Hague and will reach their destination within hours," UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said in a note emailed to reporters. "The designated laboratories are prepared to begin the analyses immediately after receipt of samples."

The UN fact-finding group, created by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in March at the request of the Syrian government, was ordered out of the war-torn country Saturday to return to The Hague.