Bomb barely misses chief UN observer in Syria
Source: Agencies |
May 10, 2012, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A ROADSIDE bomb struck a Syrian military truck yesterday, wounding six soldiers just seconds after a convoy carrying the head of the UN observer mission passed by.
An Associated Press reporter who was traveling in the UN convoy said the blast in Daraa cracked the military truck's windows and caused a plume of black smoke. The UN convoy was not hit.
The attack was "a graphic experience that the Syrian people live with every day," the head of the UN observer mission, Major General Robert Mood, told reporters.
He said the observers' work will continue as usual.
The blast went off after Mood headed into this southern city, the birthplace of the Syrian uprising, with a convoy of monitors and journalists. The explosion was more than 100 meters behind the convoy.
At least three bloodied soldiers were rushed away.
Mood said he does not know whether the blast was meant to target the observers or the military.
"For me the important thing is really not speculating about who was the target, what was the target, but it is to make the point that this is what the Syrian people (are) seeing every day and it needs to stop," he said. "Whoever is doing it and whoever is supporting it."
It's not clear who was behind the bombing.
But Syria's rebel leader Colonel Riad al-Assad threatened to resume attacks because the government has not honored a cease-fire, the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported yesterday.
Al-Assad told the paper that "our people are demanding that we defend them."
The comments were published in yesterday's edition of the paper and could deal yet another blow to a peace plan brokered by special envoy Kofi Annan, which calls for a truce to be monitored by observers to pave the way for negotiations for a resolution.
An Associated Press reporter who was traveling in the UN convoy said the blast in Daraa cracked the military truck's windows and caused a plume of black smoke. The UN convoy was not hit.
The attack was "a graphic experience that the Syrian people live with every day," the head of the UN observer mission, Major General Robert Mood, told reporters.
He said the observers' work will continue as usual.
The blast went off after Mood headed into this southern city, the birthplace of the Syrian uprising, with a convoy of monitors and journalists. The explosion was more than 100 meters behind the convoy.
At least three bloodied soldiers were rushed away.
Mood said he does not know whether the blast was meant to target the observers or the military.
"For me the important thing is really not speculating about who was the target, what was the target, but it is to make the point that this is what the Syrian people (are) seeing every day and it needs to stop," he said. "Whoever is doing it and whoever is supporting it."
It's not clear who was behind the bombing.
But Syria's rebel leader Colonel Riad al-Assad threatened to resume attacks because the government has not honored a cease-fire, the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported yesterday.
Al-Assad told the paper that "our people are demanding that we defend them."
The comments were published in yesterday's edition of the paper and could deal yet another blow to a peace plan brokered by special envoy Kofi Annan, which calls for a truce to be monitored by observers to pave the way for negotiations for a resolution.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
