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Assad gives Palestine the OK to attack Israel

Tue, 07 May 2013 12:51:00 +0000

BEIRUT (AP) — President Bashar Assad's regime has given a Palestinian militant group the go-ahead to set up missiles to attack Israel in the wake of recent Israeli airstrikes on the Syrian capital, a spokesman for the group said Tuesday.

Syria has hinted at possible retribution against Israel since the Jewish state carried out the airstrikes over the weekend, although official government statements have been relatively mild.

In that light, the Assad regime's decision to allow a minor Syria-based Palestinian group to prepare for attacks is largely seen as a face-saving gesture unlikely to escalate the confrontation with Israel.

"Syria has given the green light to set up missile batteries to directly attack Israeli targets," Anwar Raja of the Damascus-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command told The Associated Press.

He said authorities also told the PFLP-GC that the group could carry out attacks independently without consulting Syrian authorities.

Israel's government has not formally confirmed involvement in the strikes on Syria. However, Israeli officials have said the attacks were meant to prevent advanced Iranian weapons from reaching Lebanon's Hezbollah militia, an ally of Syria and foe of Israel.

13 killed in Damascus bombing, reports Syrian TV

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:22:00 +0000

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — A powerful bomb rocked Damascus on Tuesday, killing 13 people and wounding 70, Syrian state TV reported, a day after the country's prime minister narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in the heart of the heavily protected capital.

Although no one immediately claimed responsibility for the explosion, rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad's regime have increasingly targeted Damascus, the seat of his power. Tuesday's bombing was the second in as many days in the capital, increasingly wracked by violence as Syria's conflict enters its third year.

Damascus residents said they heard a powerful explosion and saw thick, black smoke billowing from behind a group of buildings.

Syrian TV said the explosion was caused by a "terrorist bombing" in the district of Marjeh, a commercial area in central Damascus. Assad's regime refers to opposition fighters as "terrorists."

The target of the attack was not immediately clear, although the explosion took place near the Damascus Tower, a 28-floor office building. The former Interior Ministry building is nearby and was damaged in the blast.

Syrian officials deny use of chemical weapons

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 16:30:00 +0000

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Two Syrian officials denied Friday that government forces had used chemical weapons against rebels, the first response from President Bashar Assad's regime to U.S. assertions that it had deployed such weapons during the 2-year-old civil war.

On Thursday, the White House and other top Obama administration officials said that U.S. intelligence had concluded with "varying degrees of confidence" that the Syrian government has twice used chemical weapons in its battle against rebels trying to oust Assad.

In the Syrian capital of Damascus, a government official said Assad's military "did not and will not use chemical weapons even if it had them." Instead, he accused opposition forces of using them in a March attack on the village of Khan al-Assal outside of the northern city of Aleppo, the largest in Syria. The official said the Syrian army had no need to use chemical weapons because it can reach any area in Syria it wants without them.

He spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give official statements.

His comments were echoed by Sharif Shehadeh, a Syrian lawmaker, who said the Syrian army "can win the war with traditional weapons" and has no need for chemical weapons.

Suicibe bombs in Syria kill 31

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 12:23:00 +0000

DAMASCUS, Syria -- Three suicide bombers detonated their explosives-packed cars near an officers' club in Syria's northern city of Aleppo on Wednesday, killing at least 31 people and causing massive destruction that trapped scores under the rubble, Syrian state media and activists said.

The blasts went off at a main square in a government-controlled district of the city, while a fourth explosion detonated a few hundred meters (yards) away near the Chamber of Commerce, they said.

Aleppo, Syria's commercial hub and largest city, has seen intensified fighting between regime forces and rebels trying to oust President Bashar Assad, especially after the fighters launched a new offensive last week. But it has not been the target of frequent suicide attacks, and Wednesday's stunning wave of explosions caused panic and fear among residents.

State-run news agency SANA said the bombings targeted Saadallah al-Jabri square, describing them as the work of "terrorists," and said at least 31 people were killed and dozens of others were wounded. Authorities refer to rebels fighting to topple Assad as terrorists and armed gangs.

A state-run channel, Ikhbariya, showed footage of massive damage around the square, which also houses a famous hotel. One building appeared leveled to the ground. The facade of another was heavily damaged.

The TV showed footage of several bodies, including one being pulled from the rubble of a collapsed building.

"It was like a series of earthquakes," said a shaken resident who declined to be identified for fear of reprisals. "It was terrifying, terrifying."

He said the officers' club and the hotel were almost completely destroyed. His account could not be immediately verified, although the TV footage showed at least one building reduced to rubble.

A Syrian government official said the number of deaths would likely increase because many of the wounded were in critical condition. Speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations, he said soldiers killed two more would-be suicide bombers at the scene, before they could detonate their explosives.

Aleppo-based activist Mohammad Saeed said the explosions went off minutes apart at one of the city's main squares. He said the blasts appear to have been caused by car bombs and were followed by clashes and heavy gunfire.

"The area is heavily fortified by security and the presence of shabiha," he said, referring to pro-regime gunmen. "It makes you wonder how car bombs could reach there," he added.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists on the ground, reported dozens of casualties from the blasts, most of them members of the regime forces.

A statement from the observatory said the explosions followed a clash between guards at the officers' club and gunmen. It said a fourth car bomb went off in the Bab Jnein area near the Chamber of Commerce, causing an unspecified number of casualties there.

During the course of the 18-month-uprising against Assad, suicide and car bombings targeting security agencies and soldiers have become common in Syria, particularly in the capital, Damascus.

But Aleppo has been spared from such bombings and from the mayhem that struck other Syrian cities, particularly in the first year of the revolt. Then, in February, two suicide car bombers hit security compounds in Aleppo's industrial center, killing 28 people.

The uprising against Assad erupted in March 2011 and gradually morphed into a bloody civil war. The conflict has killed more than 30,000 people, activists say, and has devastated entire neighborhoods in Syria's main cities, including Aleppo.

Explosions target army HQ in Syrian capital

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 12:01:00 +0000

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Twin blasts targeting Syria's army command headquarters rocked the capital on Wednesday, setting off hours of sporadic gunbattles and a raging fire inside the heavily guarded compound, state-run media and witnesses said.

An army statement said no military commanders or personnel were hurt in the explosions, one of which was from a car bomb. But Iranian Press TV said one of its correspondents, 33-year-old Maya Nasser, a Syrian national, died in an exchange of fire in the area following the blasts.

The explosions were the latest to hit the Syrian capital as the country's civil war intensified and appeared to show the deep reach of the rebels determined to topple President Bashar Assad's regime.

Syria's state-run news agency, SANA, said the explosions struck just before 7 a.m. (0400 GMT) near the landmark Omayyad Square. They were heard several miles (kilometers) away and shattered the windows of the Dama Rose hotel and other nearby buildings.

Rebels from the Free Syrian Army claimed responsibility for the bombings in a statement signed by the group's military council, saying dozens were killed in the attack.

Syria bans full Islamic face veils at universities

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 19:32:00 +0000

Syria has forbidden the country's students and teachers from wearing the niqab -- the full Islamic veil that reveals only a woman's eyes -- taking aim at a garment many see as political.

The ban shows a rare point of agreement between Syria's secular, authoritarian government and the democracies of Europe: Both view the niqab as a potentially destabilizing threat.

"We have given directives to all universities to ban niqab-wearing women from registering," a government official in Damascus told The Associated Press on Monday.

The order affects both public and private universities and aims to protect Syria's secular identity, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the issue. Hundreds of primary school teachers who were wearing the niqab at government-run schools were transferred last month to administrative jobs, he added.

The ban, issued Sunday by the Education Ministry, does not affect the hijab, or headscarf, which is far more common in Syria than the niqab's billowing black robes.