Syria Opposition: Assad Trying to Destroy UN Peace
A Syrian opposition leader said Friday that President Bashar Assad’s regime is trying to destroy a U.N.-brokered peace plan for the country. The accusations came as security forces fanned out following twin suicide car bombings that killed 55 people in Damascus.
The bombings on Thursday fueled fears of a rising Islamic militant element among those seeking to oust Assad and dealt a further blow to international efforts to end the bloodshed. Assad’s government blamed the blasts on armed terrorists it says are driving the uprising.
On Friday, a pro-government TV station said security forces prevented another massive bombing in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s largest, shooting dead a suicide attacker shortly before he detonated a mini bus filled with 3,300 pounds of explosives.
Ikhbariya TV broadcast footage of a Syrian police general showing two U.N. observers the minibus and four large metal containers that were rigged with explosives. A bearded and bloodied dead man was in the driver’s seat wearing what appeared to be an explosive belt. The station said the man tried to detonate the minibus Friday afternoon in the busy neighborhood of Shaar.