SYRIAN DEFENCE MINISTER
KILLED IN SUICIDE BLAST
A suicide bomber struck the National
Security building in the Syrian capital on Wednesday, killing the Defence
Minister and wounding other senior officials in a brazen attack on the seat of
government power, state-run TV said. Defence Minister Dawoud Rajha, 65, is the
most senior government official to be killed in the Syrian civil war as rebels
battle to oust President Bashar Assad.The capital has seen four straight days
of clashes pitting government troops against the rebels, an unprecedented
challenge to government rule in the tightly controlled capital. Rajha, a former
army general, was the most senior Christian government official in Syria. Mr
Assad appointed him to the post last year.Wednesday’s attack struck the
National Security building in Damascus during a meeting of Cabinet ministers
and senior security officials. State-run TV said some of the officials were
seriously wounded, and later reported the Defence Minister killed.
Damascus-based activist Omar al-Dimashki
said Republican Guard troops surrounded the nearby al-Shami Hospital where some
officials were taken for treatment.The U.N. Security Council was scheduled to
vote later on Wednesday on a new resolution aimed at pressuring the Syrian
regime to comply with a peace plan.
Prof.
John Kurakar
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