Blasts hit Damascus as Syria gears up for monitors

Twin bombings killed civilians and police in the heart of the Syrian capital Saturday, state television said, as peace envoy Kofi Annan geared up for a monitoring mission to end the year-long bloodshed.

"Two terrorist bombings struck Damascus this morning," the television said, adding that initial reports suggested the bombers had blown up vehicles packed with explosives.

The attacks targeted the criminal police headquarters and an office of Syria's intelligence services, killing several police and civilians, it said without giving figures.

The state broadcaster showed gruesome pictures of a charred body inside the mangled remains of a smoking vehicle in Duwar al-Jamarek.

"First pictures of the body of one of the terrorists who targeted Damascus today in Duwar al-Jamarek," a message running on the screen said.

Other images broadcast on television showed a bus splattered with blood and more blood stains on the road, while ambulances could be seen in the background.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said earlier that two powerful explosions targeted security service buildings in the capital.

A spate of bombings have hit Syria's big cities amid concerns that Al-Qaeda has taken advantage of the revolt against President Bashar Assad to shift its focus of operations from neighbouring Iraq.

On January 6, a car bomb exploded in Damascus killing 26 people, most of them civilians. State media said it was a suicide attack and blamed "terrorists".

The attack came after twin bombs hit security service bases in the capital on December 23, with state media pointing the finger at Al-Qaeda, while car bombs in the northern city of Aleppo on February 10 killed 28 people.

The United States has resisted mounting calls from its Gulf Arab allies Qatar and Saudi Arabia for the arming of rebel forces in Syria for fear the weapons might fall into the hands of the jihadists.

On Friday, UN-Arab League envoy Annan warned of a regional "escalation" of the crisis in Syria and urged the UN Security Council to close ranks to put pressure on Assad.

The former UN chief, who met Assad in Damascus last weekend, has ordered a team of UN experts to Syria this weekend to discuss a possible ceasefire and international monitoring mission, his spokesman said.

"We tend to focus on Syria, but any miscalculation that leads to major escalation will have impact in the region which would be extremely difficult to manage," he told reporters in Geneva, according to an official transcript.

Annan told the Security Council via videoconference that he has had a "disappointing" response from Assad so far to his proposals, diplomats at the meeting said.

"The stronger and more unified your message, the better chance we have of shifting the dynamics of the conflict," Annan was quoted as telling the 15-nation council.

The United Nations says some 8,000 people have died since opposition protests broke out last March. Activists have given a toll of more than 9,100.

But the Security Council has been unable to pass a resolution condemning the violence. Russia and China have twice used their powers as permanent members to block resolutions which they said were unbalanced.

Following Annan's intervention, talks are expected to start again on a draft text drawn up by the United States.

Syria's foreign ministry said the country would cooperate with Annan and at the same time pursue its crackdown on "armed terrorist gangs," which it holds responsible for the year of bloodshed.

The government is "determined to protect its citizens by disarming the terrorists and continues to search for a peaceful solution to the crisis," it said in a letter to the United Nations, reported by state news agency SANA.

Thousands of anti-government protesters called Friday for foreign military intervention to bring down Assad. The Syrian Observatory said at least 15 people were killed around the country.

"The people want military intervention, the Free Syrian Army to be armed, and the fall of the regime," several thousand demonstrators chanted in Aleppo, an activist at the scene told AFP by telephone.

Huge rallies in support of Assad were held in Damascus and other major cities on Thursday to mark the first anniversary of the uprising.

Annan's experts are expected in Damascus on Sunday. The United Nations and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation are also to send experts this weekend on a Syrian government-led humanitarian mission.

The United Nations estimates more than 30,000 Syrians have fled to neighbouring states and another 200,000 are displaced within Syria.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/two-bombings-rock-damascus-state-tv-062022362.html

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