More questions than answers from Damascus car bomb
SANA and semi-official Al-Watan newspaper also reported that in this attack Brigadier General George Ibrahim al-Gharbi was killed. He follows Brigadier General Mohammad Suleiman, who headed the security of the Syrian Centre for Scientific Study and Research, and Hizbollah’s military chief Imad Moghniyeh, respectively killed in August and February. This year another car bomb exploded near the headquarters of the Muhabarat, Syria’ secret services. In a country like Syria the police and security services are ubiquitous.
“The target of the terrorist operation that took place on Saturday morning in the Al-Qazzaz district was not the district itself or the security branch in the area. The reasons behind the explosion will be disclosed at a later stage,” Syrian sources said.
“Links have been made between the operation and a Takfiri organisation, some of the members of which have been arrested previously and are still being questioned,” Syrian security sources were quoted as saying on Sunday in Asharq Al-Awsat.
Takfiri is a fundamentalist organisation often mentioned by Syrian authorities and has been accused of planning attacks.
In July the authorities cracked down on unrest in Saydnaya Prison, caused by “offenders condemned for crimes of terrorism and extremism,” which left 25 people dead.
Now another blast and more accusations against organised terrorist groups come a day after President Bashar al-Assad warned against the danger of terrorist infiltration from northern Lebanon and the deployment of 10,000 Syrian soldiers along that border and inside Lebanese territory.
In Lebanon’s blogosphere rumours are rampant. One theory suggests that the bomb was meant for Lebanon but exploded prematurely. It was supposed to be a response to the never explained murder of Moghniyeh (Suleiman was Syria’s liaison officer with Hizbollah). Another links it to a conflict within the regime over the destroyed Kibar nuclear reactor. According to another theory Suleiman was killed by or for the Iranians to warn Syria against negotiating with Israel. If this were true it would be a sign that a power struggle is underway within the regime between pro-Tehran factions and those in favour of opening and dialogue with the West. (PD)
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