Thursday, Apr 29, 2004
Syria sees Al-Qaeda `hand'
By Atul Aneja
MANAMA, APRIL 28. Jolted by a car bomb explosion and a shoot out last night in its capital Damascus, Syria has said that it is a victim of terrorism and a partner in an international struggle against the menace. At least four persons were killed in a gun battle in the diplomatic area of the Syrian capital after a car bomb exploded. The blast gutted an 11-storey building that a United Nations team, supervising the Syrian and Israeli military disengagement in the Golan Heights area, once occupied.
The building was close to the embassy of Iran, the British Ambassador's residence and adjacent to the Canadian embassy. In the shootout with Syrian security forces, two assailants, one Syrian policeman and a woman bystander were killed. Two of the attackers were seriously wounded, said the sate-run news agency SANA. The U.S. embassy remained closed on Wednesday as a precautionary measure.
A senior Interior Ministry official condemned the attack as a "terrorist act," and the Syrian Ambassador to the United States, Imad Mustafa, hinted at the involvement of the Al-Qaeda network.
The strike in Syria follows a warning on Tuesday, purportedly by the Al-Qaeda leader in Saudi Arabia, Abdulaziz Al Muqrin, that attacks against its enemies would be intensified.
In an audiotape message available on an Islamist website he said that,
"The Jews, the Americans and crusaders in general will remain the targets of our coming attacks and this year, God willing, will be fiercer and harsher for them."
Copyright © 2004, The Hindu.