Deadly explosions rocked parts of Damascus on Saturday with some of
the targets being Syrian government facilities, witnesses and state
television reported.
At
least 27 people were
killed and 97 others were wounded in two blasts, state TV reported,
quoting Syrian Health Minister Wael Halki.
The state-run Syrian
Arab News Agency (SANA) said early indications were that two
booby-trapped cars exploded in crowded areas. It put the death toll at
24, with 140 people injured and serious damage caused to surrounding
buildings.
One explosion occurred
near the customs criminal investigations department, witnesses said.
Another struck near the Air Force intelligence headquarters in Tahrir
Square in a different area of the city.
State TV reports blamed the explosions on
"terrorists."
Kofi Annan
advises caution on Syria
The explosion by the
customs criminal investigations department was only a short distance
from Umayyad Square, where state media reported Friday that huge
numbers turned out to demonstrate in support of the regime of President
Bashar al-Assad.
The blast near the Air
Force intelligence headquarters was close to where twin bombings struck
the offices of two security branches in Damascus in December. The
government blamed terrorists inside and outside of Syria, but the
opposition called the attacks the work of the regime. The capital was
hit by another blast in January.
The Local Coordination
Committees (LCC) of Syria, an opposition activist network, reported
seeing a large white cloud of smoke hanging above Damascus Friday.
Twenty-two people were
killed elsewhere in Syria Saturday, the LCC said, including a child,
two military defectors and two people under torture. The child, 11,
died in the city of Raqqa when security forces fired on a funeral
procession, the LCC said.
Eight other deaths
occurred in Raqqa and five in Homs, the LCC said, with others reported
in Jabal al-Zawiyah, the town of Tremseh, in Hama province, and Inkhel,
in Daraa province.
Opposition activists
also spoke about the aftermath of an attack in the Rifai district of
Homs province this week, in which they said at least 32 children and
two women were found, most of them injured.
"The children were tortured -- beaten,
abused, fingers cut off, and shot by thugs," said Waleed Faris. Faris is
a pseudonym.
An activist identified
only as Abu Faris was part of a rescue operation in Rifai. He described
seeing abandoned neighborhoods, "tens of bodies" and "horrific corpses,
shot, mutilated -- everywhere."
The latest violence
comes a day after Kofi Annan, special joint U.N-Arab League envoy,
briefed the U.N. Security Council Friday on the Syrian crisis via a
private teleconference.
Speaking to reporters
afterward from Geneva, Annan said he was working hard to stop the
yearlong violence in Syria and "get unimpeded access" for humanitarian
relief.
"I'm doing my best with
the support of everyone to try to find a peaceful solution," Annan
said. "The Syrian people want to get on with their lives. They are
tired and they suffered a lot."
He said U.N.
humanitarian agencies are to arrive in Syria this weekend "if they are
not there already, to start their mission with the Syrian government."
The former U.N.
secretary-general said the situation in Syria is "much more complex"
than that in Libya or other nations. "It's a conflict in a region of
the world that has seen many, many traumatic events. I think we need to
handle the situation in Syria very, very carefully," he said. "Any
miscalculation that leads to major escalation will have impact in the
region."
Asked about the
prospects of a coalition government, Annan said such a development
would have to emerge from talks among Syrians.
U.N. Security Council
members are backing Annan's efforts, said Mark Lyall Grant, the British
ambassador to the United Nations and the current council president.
Grant didn't disclose details about the
meeting but told reporters the session was "comprehensive."
Bashar Jaafari, the
Syrian ambassador to the United Nations, also told reporters that
"Syria is committed to making Mr. Annan's mission successful."
Annan met last weekend
with the Syrian president in Damascus and the Syrian opposition in
Turkey in an effort to end the violence that has swept the nation since
Syrian security forces cracked down on protesters a year ago. He
described the atmosphere in the talks as "welcoming and correct."
Most reports from
inside Syria indicate the regime is slaughtering civilians to wipe out
dissidents seeking al-Assad's ouster. The al-Assad family has ruled
Syria for more than four decades.
But al-Assad's regime
has said "armed terrorist groups" are behind the bloodshed in Syria and
says it has popular support for its actions.
The Syrian government
Friday underscored its position on terror in letters to top U.N.
officials, including U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. It said it was
protecting its citizens from "terrorists" who are slaughtering and
murdering "innocent citizens."
The government said Syria is working to
find a political solution to the crisis and wants to cooperate with
Annan.
More than 8,000 people
have died in the conflict, according to the United Nations, but
opposition activists say the overall toll is more than 9,000, most of
them civilians.But how long will the world sit and watch the slaughter
of Syrian civilians?Does this bring into question the motives of the
West in their seemingly neutral ousting of the Ghadaffi regime in
Libya?Previous attempts to interfere by passing U.N resolutions have
failed due to a veto by China who site a non-interference policy.Can i
site here that the world has been unfair to Syria?Why cant any one act
on Syria?Are these so called moves towards finding a diplomatic solution
by U.Ns Annan envoy a real physical presence or just a toothless dog
like the Arab League Monitoring mission?These and many other questions i
ask,maybe never to be answered.The world watches on.
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