Syrian media say Aziz Asber, the head of a Syrian research center, has been killed by a car bomb. The West has been accusing the center of being part of the country's chemical weapons program. CGTN's Alaa Ebrahim has more from Damascus.

ALAA EBRAHIM DAMASCUS "Pro-government sources and opposition media reports confirmed the death of Aziz Asber, the head of a scientific research facility in the western city of Masyad. Western nations have accused the Syrian government of conducting a chemical weapons program out of this facility, something that Damascus has always denied. The facility is believed to have been the target of two missile attacks in the past that the government blamed on Israel. According to well-informed sources here in the Syrian capital, Asber was instrumental in Syria's missile program. The same sources accused Israel of carrying out the car-blast assassination - despite a statement by a rebel faction assuming responsibility for the attack. Meanwhile, the state news agency SANA reported that the government has agreed to establish what it called a coordination commission for the return of Syrians displaced abroad. The move comes days after the Russian ministry of defense unveiled its own plan to help Syrian refugees return to the country. The UN estimates that half of the country's population has been displaced because of the war and while most have been displaced inside the country, nearly six million live abroad. The Russian plan aims to help a million of these refugees to return to their homeland by the end of 2018, according to Russian military officer who spoke to CGTN. But Syrian local experts seemed skeptical about the figure, saying that the lack of funding and safety guarantees could deter many from returning to their homeland. Alaa Ebrahim, CGTN, Damascus."