Suicide blast kills dozens in Damascus

Third bomb attack targeting a military bus in Damascus Damascus – Agencies Suicide bombers attacked two secret police headquarters in Damascus Saturday, killing 27 people and leaving nearly 140 wounded, according to Syrian government sources, as there were reports of a third bomb attack targeting a military bus in Damascus.
The bombings appeared to mark a dangerous escalation in Syria's crisis, just weeks after the regime crushed a rebel stronghold in the city of Homs.
Syria’s news agency SANA blamed “terrorists” for the attacks, which they said killed and injured mainly civilians. Many anti-regime activists believe similar bombings since January have been staged to give the government an excuse to crack down on its opponents.
A statement of the Syrian Interior Ministry said that Damascus was hit on Saturday with two booby-trapped car terrorist attacks carried out by two suicide bombers, which caused the killing of 24 people, while the remains of three other killed people were found and 140 others were injured, including civilian citizens and law enforcement personnel.
The statement explained that the first explosion took place at 07: 20 am at al-Jamarek (customs) roundabout, and a few minutes later the second explosion occurred in al-Tahrir square that links Baghdad Street with al-Qassaa region.
"The two “terrorist” explosions caused great damage to the adjacent residential buildings and the cars parked nearby," the statement added, indicating to grave material damages and losses.
The Interior Ministry said that the competent authorities at the Ministry collected evidence, samples, remains and remnants of explosive materials, which were sent to specialized labs to get to identifying the crime's perpetrators and the type of material used in the bombings.
The Ministry's statement said these two terrorist bombings are part and parcel of targeting the Syrian people in its security and stability and come in light of the recently witnessed escalation by regional and international parties, which was lately manifested in public calls for sending arms to Syria.
"On the other hand," the statement added, "the Interior Ministry will not be tolerant while dealing firmly with all those who attempt to strike Syria's security, stability and unity and terrorize its citizens."
The Ministry called in its statement on the international community and the international organizations to shoulder their responsibilities and stand by the Syrian people and to work for stopping the attempts at disrupting Syria's stability and security.
The Ministry also called upon the citizens to continue to cooperate with the authorities to inform any suspicious case or any information about the terrorists' activities and movement so as to contribute to ending terrorism and preserving the Syrian citizens' lives.
Damascus was targeted on December 23, 2011 by two bomb attacks carried out by two suicide bombers driving two booby-trapped cars. The explosions targeted a state security headquarters and a security branch, claiming the lives of 44 and the injury of 166 of security personnel and civilians.
On January 6, 2012, Damascus witnessed another attack was carried out by a suicide bomber at a crowded area near Hasan al-Hakim School at al-Midan Neighborhood in Damascus, claimed the lives of 26 and the injured 63 others of the civilians and the law-enforcement personnel.
Aleppo was also targeted on February 10 by two attacks against a military security branch and the headquarters of the law-enforcement forces at al-Arqoub area. The explosions claimed the lives of 28 and the injury of 235 of the law-enforcement members and civilians.
State television showed the aftermath - pools of blood, body parts strewn across streets, and wrecked and burned vehicles - in gruesome detail. "We heard a huge explosion. At that moment the doors in our house were blown out, even though we were some distance from the blast," one elderly man, with a bandage wrapped round his head, told Syrian television, which also showed what it said was the charred corpse of a terrorist in a burned vehicle. There were reports of a third bomb attack targeting a military bus in Damascus. Nobody claimed responsibility for the attacks, which Syrians fear may herald the start of a prolonged suicide bombing campaign of the kind seen in neighbouring Iraq.
Hours earlier, UN-Arab League envoy to Syria Kofi Annan had warned that the crisis could soon spread to neighbouring countries. The former head of the United Nations has been the latest international figure to attempt a peace mission to Damascus, yet President Bashar al-Assad appears increasingly immune to international pressure.
His hard line supporters have rallied, his army has inflicted setbacks on rebels in Homs and Idlib, and the outside world seems powerless to influence events.
"We are winning on the battlefield, and winning the battle on television," Assad told supporters last week, apparently untroubled by international calls for him to face war crimes charges.
He appears confident that, of all the dictators shaken by the political earthquake of the Arab Spring, he is the one who will survive.
But as the violence worsens, predictions are being made that Syria will be engulfed by a religious insurgency.
For his part, Russia's foreign minister urged Syria to support U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan's peacemaking efforts "without delay" in comments published on Saturday, adopting an unusually firm tone with the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
Russia disagrees with many of the decisions Assad's government has made in a year of bloodshed, Sergei Lavrov told Russia’s state television in an interview, according to a transcript posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry website.
Lavrov's comments did not signal a shift in Russia's stance, but suggested Moscow wants the world to know it is motivated by the urgent need to end the violence in Syria rather than by the desire to prop up a longtime ally.
Russia, with China, on February 4 vetoed a Western-Arab draft U.N. Security Council resolution that would have condemned the government for violence the United Nations says has killed more than 8.000 civilians and backed a call for Assad to step aside.
Russia has vocally supported a mission by Annan, who met with Assad last weekend as part of a push for a ceasefire, the deployment of monitors and political dialogue between the government and opposition.
"We believe the Syrian government should quickly, without delay, support Annan's approaches," Lavrov said. "We will expect the same from the armed and political opposition."
"Only by receiving agreement in principle with what Annan is promoting in his contacts with the Syrians can the process of a truce begin - and after that the start of a Syrian dialogue."
Annan suggested in talks with Security Council members on Friday that Damascus' response to his six-point peace proposal had been disappointing so far, but his team was still talking with Syria's government, an envoy said.
In a different note, Arab League Secretary General Nabil Al-Arabi has praised planned holding of the Arab summit in Baghdad noting that it would be held amid significant developments and conditions in the Arab world.
In remarks to Egyptian daily Al-Ahram, Al-Arabi said relevant departments in the Arab countries should prepare for files to be pondered at the summit, such as the Syrian crisis and the Palestinian cause.
While ruling out major breakthrough on such thorny issues, the Arab League chief re-asserted that the grouping of the top leaders would be in itself crucial.
On Iran and Turkey, he acknowledged that the two non-Arab nations have major interests in the region, however, "what concerns us is Iran's non-intervention in the internal affairs of the Arab states, such intervention is utterly rejected."
Elaborating on the Syrian issue, Al-Arabi re-affirmed the league call for a cease-fire, release of the prisoners and carrying out genuine political reforms.
The Syrian government has agreed to these demands, theoretically, but it has not responded practically and "this stance has prompted the Syrian people to react to defend themselves, leading to the equation; violence and counter violence." He re-stressed that the Damascus government must cease the violence and repression against the people. The Arab League has made calls in this regard, in addition to other issues, such as calls for opening the border checkpoints for humanitarian aid and allowing entry of teams of the Arab and international media, he pointed out.
Al-Arabi indicated that the league member states had imposed boycott on the Syrian regime because the organisation charter included no sanctions for such situations. He also cited as a form of the political boycott, suspension of Syria's membership in the league. "All these measures have not affected stance of the Syrian government," he said.
The chief of the Arab organisation indicated at disarrays among ranks of the Syrian opposition, criticizing their calls for employment of force to change the regime. He noted that the approach for tackling the crisis, now, lies in capitalizing on efforts exerted by Kofi Annan, the special envoy of the UN and the league, and boosting humanitarian efforts to relieve the victims of the violence
The Syrian National Council’s leader Burhan Ghalioun called on Saturday from Morocco for a military intervention by Arab and Western countries in Syria to end Bloodshed’.
Ghalioun was speaking in a conference in Rabat while he insisted on a Military Intervention to protect civilians from the Bloody Army of Bashar Al Assad.
“We Seek Help from the Arab world, we seek Arm for the Free Army, we demand military intervention by Arab and Western countries to protect civilians as the situation is getting worse day after day” Ghalioun said, one day before SNC representatives were due to meet UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan in Ankara.
“We work in cohesion with the Moroccan government who supports the Syrian People and we stand side by side till we reach Freedom’ Ghalioun said