SYRIAN PM SURVIVES BOMBING State TV blames assassination bid on rebels

BEIRUT

In the latest re-ported attack on a high-ranking Syrian official, Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi survived what appeared to be an assassination attempt Monday in an upscale neighbourhood of the capital, damascus, when a car bomb exploded near his convoy.

State-run media and opposition reports said a bodyguard was killed in the attack, which took place in Mezze, a central district where many senior officials live. The prime minister was reportedly unhurt, although state media said others had been injured.

Video on state television showed a car reduced to a charred skeleton and, nearby, a bus with its windows shattered.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Monday’s attack. However, similar bombings have been a trademark of Islamic radicals fighting in the rebel ranks, raising concerns about the extremists’ role in Syria’s civil war, The Associated Press reported.

The assault also fit a pattern of attempts to attack high officials. Less than two weeks ago, Ali Balan, the government’s chief coordinator of emergency aid distribution to civilians, was killed by gunmen with silencer-equipped weapons at a restaurant in the same heavily guarded neighborhood, close to buildings housing government and military institutions.

In July, an explosion at a security headquarters in the Syrian capital killed or wounded several key aides loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

State television in Syria called the attack a “terrorist explosion” that was “an attempt to target the convoy of the prime minister.” Terrorist is the word used by the authorities to depict their armed adversaries.

eager to assure the public that Mr. Halqi survived the attack, the state-run Al-Ikhbariya station said the prime minister attended a regular weekly meeting with an economic committee immediately after the bombing. The station broadcast video of Mr. Halqi sitting at a table with several other officials.

Later, in its evening news program, state TV showed video of Mr. Halqi denouncing the attack, calling it a “terror- ist and criminal act” and wishing the wounded a speedy recovery.

A government official said two people were killed and 11 wounded in the blast, while the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human rights activist group put the death toll at five, including two of Mr. Halqi’s bodyguards and one of the drivers in his convoy.

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

Mr. Halqi has been part of an effort by Mr. Assad to wage an energized diplomatic campaign to persuade the united States it is on the wrong side of the civil war.

“We are partners in fighting terrorism,” he said of the united States in a recent interview.

At the united Nations Monday, Ban Ki-moon, the secretary-general, met the leader of his newly appointed factfinding panel on suspected chemical weapons use in Syria and reiterated his request the Syrian government allow it to enter the country.

Mr. Ban said the panel leader, Ake Sellstrom, and his experts “remain ready to deploy to Syria within 24 to 48 hours” of consent by the Syrian government, which requested the panel last month.

The trip has been stalled over Syria’s objections to giving the panel unlimited access to all suspected sites of chemical weapons use. Syria has insisted it investigate only one suspected attack outside Aleppo on March 19, in which it contends insurgents used chemical agents.

Mr. Ban also said he takes “very seriously” the assessment of u.S. intelligence agencies, disclosed last week, that concluded with varying degrees of certainty chemical weapons had been used in the Syrian conflict.

“On-site activities are essential if the united Nations is to be able to establish the facts and clear up all the doubts surrounding this issue,” he said. Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi speaks to journalists

in Damascus on Monday.

SANA / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS