Thursday, July 19, 2012

Syrian rebels say they carried out Damascus attack

This undated photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows Syrian Defense Minister Gen. Dawoud Rajha in Damascus, Syria. Syria's state-run TV says the country's defense minister has been killed in a suicide blast in the capital. Wednesday's attack struck the National Security building in Damascus during a meeting of Cabinet ministers and senior security officials. (AP Photo/SANA)

This undated photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows Syrian Defense Minister Gen. Dawoud Rajha in Damascus, Syria. Syria's state-run TV says the country's defense minister has been killed in a suicide blast in the capital. Wednesday's attack struck the National Security building in Damascus during a meeting of Cabinet ministers and senior security officials. (AP Photo/SANA)

In this photo released by the office of the Egyptian Presidency, President Mohammed Morsi, second from right, talks with Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, second left, as they attend a military graduation ceremony with Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri, left, and Chief of Staff Sami Anan, right, in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, July 17, 2012. Egypt?s President Mohammed Morsi hailed the Egyptian army and its commanders at a time the newly elected Islamist president and the military council, which took power after ouster of Hosni Mubarak last year, are in mid of power struggle. (AP Photo/Sheriff Abd El Minoem, Egyptian Presidency)

(AP) ? Syria's rebel commander says his forces carried out an attack in Damascus that killed the defense minister and other regime officials. But he denies it was a suicide bombing.

Riad al-Asaad said in a phone interview from his headquarters in Turkey that rebel forces planted a bomb inside a room where senior government officials were meeting Wednesday.

Defense Minister Dawoud Rajha and his deputy Gen. Assef Shawkat, who also was President Bashar Assad's brother-in-law, were killed.

The rebel leader denies government claims that it was a suicide attack, saying all those who carried out the operation are safe.

He said the attack marked "the beginning of the end of the regime."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-07-18-ML-Syria/id-ba6b5ecfb8d8439eb7587caa6cb748df

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