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| Syria denies attack on presidentÂ’s motorcade | |
| 2013-08-10 | |
| Syrian authorities took the rare step of denying media reports of an attack on President Bashar Al AssadÂ’s motorcade as he travelled to a mosque on Thursday to attend prayers marking Eid. It was the first report of a direct attack on AssadÂ’s convoy since the beginning of the conflict in March 2011. Several media outlets, including Saudi-based Al Arabiya satellite channel, as well as activists on the ground, had said that a rocket attack targeted AssadÂ’s motorcade as he travelled to the Anas bin Malik mosque in central Damascus to join the Eid Al Fitr prayers.
“The president arrived at the mosque driving his own car, he attended the prayer and greeted everyone in the mosque as he does every day when he meets people,” Zohbi added. The minister slammed reports of the attack on the motorcade as a “projection of the dreams and illusions of certain media and the governments behind them,” adding that they were a “joke”. “Everything is normal,” Zohbi added. “They wanted to spoil the celebrations for Syrians.” The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog could not confirm the reported rocket attack but said mortar shells early Thursday hit the upmarket Malki area in central Damascus, near to where Assad was attending the Eid prayers, and where the president’s offices are also located. The NGO did not report any casualties or victims in the shelling, which however indicated that rebels seeking to topple Assad are able to launch attacks despite relentless attempts by regime forces to clear the capital of insurgents. | |
| Posted by:Steve White |