Assad Trades Blame With Protesters for Bombings in Syria
KAREEM FAHIM and HWAIDA SAAD, NY Times
Thousands of people attended funerals in Damascus on Saturday for the victims of two powerful bombs that exploded outside government security buildings the day before, as human rights activists reported a large-scale assault on a restive city by government troops.
The bombings in the Syrian capital on Friday killed at least 44 people and wounded more than 160, in the worst attack on official installations since the beginning of the uprising in March.
President Bashar al-Assad’s government blamed both Al Qaeda and the antigovernment protest movement for the attacks, making no distinction between the two groups. His opponents have accused the government of staging the attack, perhaps to bolster its position during a visit by an Arab League delegation that Syria was facing Islamist militants, not peaceful protesters.
No one has claimed responsibility for the bombings, and neither side has provided evidence for its claims. Given Syria’s volatile and divided state, there was little hope that the mystery would be solved anytime soon.
full: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/25/world/middleeast/allegations-traded-after-attack-in-syrian-capital.html
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