Multiple mortars slam central Damascus, causing injuries

Source  : Xinhua

DAMASCUS, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Multiple mortar shells fired by Syrian armed rebels landed Sunday near the state TV's office building and Sheraton Hotel in the heart of the capital Damascus causing injuries and material damages, witnesses told Xinhua.

According to Xinhua reporter at the scene, thick clouds of smoke permeated the area and heavy security forces were deployed in the streets, cutting off all routes leading to the Umayyad Square, where the state TV's office building is located.

Witnesses told Xinhua that two mortars, allegedly launched from al-Qusour area in the south, landed in the main yard of Sheraton Hotel, where UN-Arab League Special Envoy Lakhdar Brahim is staying.

They added another mortar slammed a street close to a highway, where two cars flipped over afte they hit the sidewalk steered by startled drivers.

Meanwhile, another mortar landed in the al-Qusour area in southern Damascus, local media said.

The rebels have recently stepped up mortar attacks in an attempt to destroy major military and governmental sites in Damascus.

Meanwhile, the pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebels bombarded the main hospital in the Damascus suburb of Harasta, which they claimed had been turned into a regular force center.

The Observatory also said five family members, including two children, were killed by the government forces' bombardment on the town of Beit Sahm near the road to the airport of Damascus.
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President Assad Orders Commanders to Target Israel, US Interests "If Assassinated"

Source : Fars News Agency

TEHRAN (FNA)- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has ordered his army commanders to target Israel and the US interests in the Middle East region in case he is assassinated by the terrorists, informed sources said on Monday.

President Assad's remarks came after he attended several meetings with his senior commanders, and discussed the country's security situation with them, the Algerian Al-Shorouq Oline newspaper quoted informed sources close to the Syrian government as saying on Monday.

In the meetings presided by President Assad, Syria's top army commanders told him that "the foreign hostile states will strive to assassinate him instead of launching a military attack on Syria".

According to the report, a Persian translation of which was released by the Iranian students news agency, the Syrian army commanders have told the President that the spy agencies of certain western states and Syria's neighboring countries have smuggled hi-tech missiles into Syria to provide armed rebels and terrorist groups with a chance to target President Assad's likely residence.

In response, President Assad has ordered his military commanders to target Israel and the US positions in the region, specially in the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, if the western states succeed in assassinating him.

Earlier this month, President Assad voiced his readiness for dialogue with the opposition and political parties in Syria. The Syrian leader also proposed general elections, adoption of a new constitution as well as a national reconciliation conference.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against Syrian police forces and border guards being reported across the country.

Hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed, when some protest rallies turned into armed clashes.

The government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups for the deaths, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad.

In October 2011, calm was eventually restored in the Arab state after President Assad started a reform initiative in the country, but Israel, the US and its Arab allies are seeking hard to bring the country into chaos through any possible means. Tel Aviv, Washington and some Arab capitals have been staging various plots in the hope of increasing unrests in Syria.

The US daily, Washington Post, reported in May that the Syrian rebels and terrorist groups battling the President Bashar al-Assad's government have received significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, a crime paid for by the Persian Gulf Arab states and coordinated by the United States.

The newspaper, quoting opposition activists and US and foreign officials, reported that Obama administration officials emphasized the administration has expanded contacts with opposition military forces to provide the Persian Gulf nations with assessments of rebel credibility and command-and-control infrastructure.

According to the report, material is being stockpiled in Damascus, in Idlib near the Turkish border and in Zabadani on the Lebanese border.

Opposition activists who several months ago said the rebels were running out of ammunition said in May that the flow of weapons - most bought on the black market in neighboring countries or from elements of the Syrian military in the past - has significantly increased after a decision by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Persian Gulf states to provide millions of dollars in funding each month.

Russia satisfied with Geneva meeting on Syria, Damascus rattled by new blast

Source :  Xinhua

BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Russia on Monday expressed satisfaction with last week's trilateral meeting on Syria's protracted crisis in Geneva, while a loud explosion rattled a district of the Syrian capital of Damascus overnight. The latest Geneva talks, held last Friday, drew UN-Arab League joint special envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and U.S. Undersecretary of State William Burns. The three stressed the need for a speedy end to all forms of violence in Syria.

"It was a constructive meeting, a concerned partners' conversation with our colleagues," Interfax news agency quoted Bogdanov as saying.

"They, like us, have a serious concern over the affairs there (in Syria) for not to let the situation deteriorate and come up as soon as possible with a political solution," he said.

It was the second such meeting in nearly one month. The first one was held in December, when the three envoys agreed that a political process to end the crisis in Syria was necessary and possible.

Bogdanov said various options have been discussed in the UN about sending international observers to Syria.

"Likely, a necessity to send a reliable team of international monitors will appear. So far, these issues have not been discussed on a political level but the UN experts in New York have been working on preliminarily various options which could be discussed later," Bogdanov said.

According to the diplomat, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council could convene to discuss the situation in Syria "before the end of January, around the 25th, 26th, 27th" after Brahimi presents a new report on Syria, Bogdanov said.

Although he did not specify the participants, Bogdanov said a ministerial meeting was unlikely.

Also on Monday, a loud explosion rattled Damascus' district of Muhajireen, causing windows to implode and prompting members of the security forces to fan out and cut off nearby roads as a precautionary measure.

The cause of the big blast at the Shoura area in Muhajireen has not been immediately figured out, but local media reports said it is most likely a shell bomb, without providing information on any possible casualties.

The area houses a number of security headquarters and is considered one of the most heavily guarded areas in Damascus. Syria's official media has spelled no words on the incident so far.

Blasts have intensified in the Syrian capital recently, coupled with armed rebels' attacks on army checkpoints in several hotspots around the capital.

In Beijing, China urged relevant parties to show patience in finding a solution to the Syria crisis, after the latest Geneva meeting on the issue failed to yield tangible results.

"China holds that a political solution is the only realistic way out of the Syria issue," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a daily press briefing.

China supports relevant parties' efforts to promote the political solution, as well as Brahimi's impartial mediation, he added.

Hong said China hoped relevant parties could build consensus on the basis of the Geneva Communique agreed on at the Action Group's meeting on June 30 and push for an impartial, peaceful and proper solution at the earliest date.

"Meanwhile, China urges the Syrian government and the opposition to be pragmatic and actively seek a solution acceptable to all parties so as to launch political dialogue and transition with the aim of an early end to the Syria crisis," Hong said.