Bomb kills 13 in Syria during talks on cease-fire
Source: Agencies |
October 22, 2012, Monday
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A taxi rigged with explosives blew up near a police station in the Syrian capital yesterday, killing at least 13 people even as the UN envoy to the nation's crisis was visiting Damascus to push his call for a cease-fire in talks with President Bashar Assad.
Syria's SANA state news agency said 29 people were also wounded in the blast in the Bab Touma neighborhood, a popular shopping district largely inhabited by Syria's Christian minority.
Damascus has become a frequent target of bombings in recent months. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for yesterday's blast, but Islamist groups fighting alongside the rebels have claimed to be behind bomb attacks against security targets in the capital.
The taxi blew up 50 meters from Bab Touma's main police station. Blood stained the street and sidewalks, shards of glass littered the pavement from shattered shop windows and the charred hulks of at least four cars littered the street.
Vegetable vendor Mohammad Hanbali, 27, said several people wounded in the blast were lying on the street when he rushed to help.
"It's a cowardly act, carried out by terrorists," said Hanbali, who was hit by a piece of shrapnel in the left leg.
No deal yet on 4-day truce
In another part of capital, UN and Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi met with Assad as part of his push for a cease-fire between rebels and government forces for the four-day Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which begins on October 26.
Brahimi told reporters following a closed-door meeting that he met earlier with Syrian opposition groups inside and outside the country. He said he received "promises" but not a "commitment" from them to honor the cease-fire.
He noted that he "found an overwhelming response" from Assad's opponents to his cease-fire plan and that "all of them have said that it's a good idea which they support."
He declined to reveal Assad's response to his plan, viewed as a preliminary step toward a larger deal. But SANA said Assad assured Brahimi that he supported his effort, but did not say whether he committed to a truce.
"The president said he is open to any sincere effort to find a political solution to the crisis on the basis of respecting the Syrian sovereignty and rejecting foreign interference," SANA said.
It said Assad also stressed a political solution must be "based on the principle of halting terrorism, a commitment from the countries involved in supporting, arming and harboring terrorists in Syria to stop doing such acts."
Syria blames the uprising on a foreign conspiracy and accuse Saudi Arabia and Qatar, along with the US, other Western countries and Turkey.
Syria's SANA state news agency said 29 people were also wounded in the blast in the Bab Touma neighborhood, a popular shopping district largely inhabited by Syria's Christian minority.
Damascus has become a frequent target of bombings in recent months. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for yesterday's blast, but Islamist groups fighting alongside the rebels have claimed to be behind bomb attacks against security targets in the capital.
The taxi blew up 50 meters from Bab Touma's main police station. Blood stained the street and sidewalks, shards of glass littered the pavement from shattered shop windows and the charred hulks of at least four cars littered the street.
Vegetable vendor Mohammad Hanbali, 27, said several people wounded in the blast were lying on the street when he rushed to help.
"It's a cowardly act, carried out by terrorists," said Hanbali, who was hit by a piece of shrapnel in the left leg.
No deal yet on 4-day truce
In another part of capital, UN and Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi met with Assad as part of his push for a cease-fire between rebels and government forces for the four-day Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which begins on October 26.
Brahimi told reporters following a closed-door meeting that he met earlier with Syrian opposition groups inside and outside the country. He said he received "promises" but not a "commitment" from them to honor the cease-fire.
He noted that he "found an overwhelming response" from Assad's opponents to his cease-fire plan and that "all of them have said that it's a good idea which they support."
He declined to reveal Assad's response to his plan, viewed as a preliminary step toward a larger deal. But SANA said Assad assured Brahimi that he supported his effort, but did not say whether he committed to a truce.
"The president said he is open to any sincere effort to find a political solution to the crisis on the basis of respecting the Syrian sovereignty and rejecting foreign interference," SANA said.
It said Assad also stressed a political solution must be "based on the principle of halting terrorism, a commitment from the countries involved in supporting, arming and harboring terrorists in Syria to stop doing such acts."
Syria blames the uprising on a foreign conspiracy and accuse Saudi Arabia and Qatar, along with the US, other Western countries and Turkey.
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