No sign of Assad after bomb kills kin; battles rage
DAMASCUS ( Reuters) — Mystery surrounded the whereabouts of Syrian President Bashar Assad yesterday, as battles raged in the center of Damascus, a day after a bomber killed his top security chiefs.
The Syrian leader made no public appearance and no statement after a bomb in the heart of the capital killed his powerful brother-in-law, his defense minister and a top general, drawing fierce army retaliation with heavy artillery against the rebels.
Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama’s administration officials are working on contingency plans Wednesday for a collapse of the Syrian government, focusing particularly on the chemical weapons that Syria is thought to possess and that Assad could try to use on opposition forces and civilians.
Pentagon officials were in talks with Israeli defense officials about whether Israel might move to destroy Syrian weapons facilities, two administration officials said.
The administration is not advocating such an attack, the US officials said, because of the risk that it would give Assad an opportunity to rally support against Israeli interference.
Yesterday morning, residents said there was no let-up in the heaviest fighting to hit the city in a 16-month revolt against Assad’s rule, now into its fifth day.
The fighting came within sight of the presidential palace, near the security headquarters where the bomber struck a crisis meeting of defense and security chiefs.
Residents in the Midan and Kafr Souseh districts said they heard explosions and heavy gunfire as helicopters buzzed overhead.
On Wednesday, an explosion which nearly no residents heard struck at the heart of Assad’s government. Following the attack, rebellious neighborhoods were plunged into fierce battles.
Assad’s brother-in-law Assef Shawkat, a top commander and one of the pillars of the Assad clan’s rule, was killed in the Wednesday blast along with Defense Minister Daoud Rajha.