Syria has handed Russia new materials which it claims implicate rebels in a chemical attack in Damascus, says a Russian minister.

According to Russian news agencies, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said: "The corresponding materials were handed to the Russian side.

"We were told that they were evidence that the rebels are implicated in the chemical attack."

Mr Ryabkov also said Russia was disappointed with the United Nations report into the August 21 attack.

"Without a full picture ... we cannot describe the character of the conclusions as anything other than politicised, biased and one-sided," he said.

Mr Ryabkov was talking after meeting Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem in Damascus.

The UN report into the attack, which was published earlier this week, said chemical weapons had been used on a "relatively large scale" - but did not lay any blame for the atrocity.

However, photographs taken by the inspectors appeared to show possible Cyrillic, or Russian, engravings on one of the rocket casings.

Rockets tested at the attack site in Damascus were found to contain sarin, while the area in which they landed was contaminated with the deadly gas.

Blood and urine samples taken from patients injured in the attack tested positive for sarin, while survivors said they had experienced symptoms including loss of consciousness, shortness of breath and blurred vision, all of which are consistent with intoxication.

The US believes more than 1,400 people were killed in the attack but some other estimates are lower.