UPDATE 2-Suicide bomber kills several in Damascus-Syrian TV

Photograph: AFP PHOTO / SANA
AMMAN, Jan 6 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed
several people and wounded dozens in central Damascus on
Friday, Syrian state television said, showing footage of what
appeared to be a damaged police bus.
The television showed body parts, bloodstains and broken
glass from the blast in the Maidan district, along with people
shouting that this was the work of terrorists.
Several riot police shields could be seen in the wrecked
bus, which was among several vehicles with smashed windows.
"Immediate information indicates that a suicide terrorist
blew himself up at a traffic light in the Maidan neighbourhood,"
the television said. "There are dozens of dead and wounded,
mostly civilians."
On Dec. 23 at least 44 people were killed by what the Syrian
authorities said were two suicide bombings against security
buildings in the Syrian capital.
Those attacks occurred the day before the arrival in
Damascus of the head of an Arab League mission that is checking
Syria's compliance with an Arab plan to halt President Bashar
al-Assad's violent crackdown on nearly 10 months of unrest.
The latest blast precedes an Arab League meeting in Cairo
scheduled for Sunday at which a special committee on Syria is
due to debate the initial findings of the observer mission.
Syria has been racked by a popular uprising against Assad in
which the United Nations says more than 5,000 people have been
killed. The government says armed "terrorists" have killed 2,000
members of the security forces since the revolt began.
The Syrian government bars most international journalists
from operating in the country, making it difficult to verify
accounts of incidents.
An opposition activist in Damascus said the pro-democracy
movement had nothing to do with the Maidan attack, suggesting
that Islamist militants might have been involved.
"It seems clear that there is a growing extremist Islamist
presence in Syria these days and I think there are hundreds of
these extremists willing to fight the regime and blow themselves
up in the name of jihad," said the activist, who asked not to be
named.
"We will be seeing more and more of these explosions in
Syria in the coming days, I am sorry to say," he added.
(Additional reporting by Erika Solomon in Beirut; Editing by
Alistair Lyon)
http://en-maktoob.yahoo.com/

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