Rebels claim attack on Assad’s convoy
Govt denies strike, says Prez unharmed
Damascus, Aug. 8: Syria took the rare step of denying reports of an attack on President Bashar al- Assad’s motorcade as he drove to a Damascus mosque on Thursday for prayers marking Muslim holidays.
It was the first report of a direct attack on the embattled leader since the March 2011 outbreak of the antiregime revolt in Syria.
Several media outlets, including Saudi- based AlArabiya television, and Opponents on the ground said a rocket and mortar attack targeted Mr Assad’s motorcade.
They said the convoy had been headed to Anas bin Malik mosque in central Damascus for Eid al- Fitr prayers marking the end of the fasting month of Ramzan.
“Regarding the information reported by AlArabiya, I can assure you that it is completely false,” information minister Omran al- Zohbi told state television. “The President arrived at the mosque driving his own car, he attended the prayer and greeted everyone in the mosque as he does every day when he meets people.
“Everything is normal,” Mr Zohbi added. “They wanted to spoil the celebrations for Syrians.”
Regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia is a strong supporter of the Sunni- led rebels seeking to oust Mr Assad who belongs to the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia Islam. Since the start of the anti- Assad uprising, Syria’s regime has consistently dismissed the armed Opposition as foreignbacked “terrorists”.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights could not confirm the reported rocket attack, but said mortar rounds hit the upmarket Malki area in central Damascus, near where Mr Assad was attending Eid prayers and where his offices are.
At least two Islamist rebel groups later claimed via Facebook to have attacked Mr Assad’s convoy.
“Liwa al- Islam used rocket fire to target the convoy, while other rebel groups used mortars,” Liwa alIslam spokesman Islam Allush said via the Internet. State television showed Mr Assad sitting with other dignitaries, appearing relaxed and smiling during the morning prayer. He has rarely appeared in public since the start of the conflict. Opposition chief Ahmad Jarba, meanwhile, visited Daraa in southern Syria near the Jordanian border to mark Eid, a National Coalition source said.
“This visit to the south shows that large swathes of Syria, from the north to the south, are in Opposition control,” the source said on condition of anonymity.
Jarba went in a village called Tal Shehab and visited schools housing refugees, the source added.
The Syrian Observatory, which compiles its information from activists and medics, said on Thursday that the conflict had claimed at least 4,420 lives during Ramzan.
While some two- thirds of the victims were combatants on both sides, this time last year most of the dead were civilians, reflecting a shift in the nature of Syria’s war.