Wednesdayafter a suicide bomber killed Defence Minister Dawoud Rajiha,
his deputy,and seriously injured several other top security officials
including the Interior Minister and the intelligence chief.
The lethal strike was carried out by the bomber who, apparently, was
part of a security team posted to guard President Bashar Al Assad's
inner circle.
The sketchy information available so far seems to suggest that the
bomber struck during a high-profile security meeting in the national
security bureau in Rawda district of Damascus.
The attack also delivered apersonal blow to Mr. Assad, whose
brother-in-law and Deputy DefenceMinister Assef Shawkat was among the
dead. Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim al-Shaar is recuperating in
hospital, as is intelligence chief Hisham Bekhtyar, who sustained
serious injuries.
Syrian authorities have appointed Fahad Jassim al-Freij, chief of the
staff ofthe armed forces, new Defence Minister.
The claims of responsibilityhave come thick and fast soon after the
attack. Liwa Al-Islam, a Syrian rebel Islamist group posted a
statement on Facebook claiming responsibility for the strike.
The Opposition Free SyrianArmy also said it carried out the attack,
according to its spokesman Qassim Saadedine.
'Hired hands'
On their part, the Syrian authorities pinned the blame for the
"terrorist bomb attack" on "hired hands," and vowed to wipe out
"criminal gangs," state television reported.
Wednesday's mega strike caps four days of hit-and-run violence in
Damascus, which started after the Opposition launched a new offensive
code-namedOperation Damascus Volcano, focusing on high visibility
targets.
Annan's peace plan
As Damascus immersed into a deep security crisis, the United Nations
Security Council is getting ready to debate a resolution on extension
of a U.N. monitoring mission in Syria, whose deployment has been tied
to the fulfilment of a six-point peace plan authored by Kofi Annan,
U.N.-Arab League envoy onSyria. Russia and China are opposed to a
British draft which embeds the possibility of sanctions, if not more,
on the Assad regime in case it does not comply with Mr. Annan's plan.
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