A massive bomb blast rocked Damascus yesterday as pressure mounted on the regime, with the world’s largest pan-Islamic bloc poised to suspend Syria over the unrelenting violence.
The US also accused Iran of setting up a pro-regime militia in Syria as Washington increasingly ties the conflict that is now in its 18th month to interference by long-time foe Tehran.
The rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) claimed it was behind the bomb attack, which it said targeted a military meeting taking place near the hotel used by the UN observer mission in Syria.
“There was a huge explosion and a fireball, and soldiers were thrown to the ground by the blast,” a military officer at the scene said, adding that five people suffered burns or shrapnel wounds.
Damascus has been hit by several bomb blasts, including an attack last month that killed four of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s top security chiefs and was also claimed by the FSA.
Meanwhile, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which represents 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide, was poised to suspend Syria at an emergency summit yesterday in a move opposed by Iran, a staunch ally of al-Assad’s increasingly embattled regime.
The move by the OIC is aimed at further isolating al-Assad’s regime over a conflict that activists say has now claimed more than 23,000 lives and has sent hundreds of thousands fleeing, but its effect is seen as largely symbolic.
Syria was suspended from the Arab League last year over its crackdown on the Arab Spring-inspired uprising that al-Assad has characterized as a plot by Western and rival Sunni powers to overthrow his Alawite-led regime.
Tensions have been simmering between Sunni-led Saudi Arabia and Shiite-dominated Iran as Syria has emerged as another arena for the longtime rivalry between the two regional heavyweights.
Iran’s archfoe the US on Tuesday accused Tehran of setting up a militia in Syria and urged it to stay out of the conflict.
“It is obvious that Iran has been playing a larger role in Syria in many ways,” US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said at a press conference.
He said the US has evidence that Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards were “trying to develop, trying to train a militia within Syria to be able to fight on behalf of the regime.”
“We are seeing a growing presence by Iran and that is of deep concern to us. We do not think that Iran ought to play that role at this moment in time, that’s dangerous ... It’s adding to the killing that’s going on in Syria,” he said.
Further undermining the regime, former Syrian prime minister Riad Hijab, the highest profile government figure to defect, said on Tuesday that the power structure in Syria was disintegrating.
“The Syrian regime only controls 30 percent of Syria’s territory. It has collapsed militarily, economically and morally,” Hijab told a press conference in Amman.
The US, which has imposed a raft of tough sanctions to try to force al-Assad’s departure, reacted by lifting an asset freeze imposed on Hijab in a move it said was aimed at encouraging similar defections.
Western policymakers hope a wave of defections would bring the collapse of the autocratic government, ending a conflict that seems to be in stalemate.
Taiwan moved clear of Mexico to be the only country at No. 2 in the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Men’s Baseball World Rankings. Meanwhile, draft bills to set up a ministry of sports were approved at a joint session at the legislature in Taipei yesterday. After previously being tied with Mexico for second on 4,118 points, Taiwan moved clear on 5,498 points after they defeated Japan in the final of the WBSC Premier12 tournament on Sunday. Mexico (4,729) dropped to fourth, behind Venezuela (4,846), who finished fourth at the tournament. Taiwan narrowed the gap to first-placed Japan to 1,368 points from 1,638, WBSC
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday declared emergency martial law, accusing the opposition of being “anti-state forces intent on overthrowing the regime” amid parliamentary wrangling over a budget bill. “To safeguard a liberal South Korea from the threats posed by North Korea’s communist forces and to eliminate anti-state elements plundering people’s freedom and happiness, I hereby declare emergency martial law,” Yoon said in a live televised address to the nation. “With no regard for the livelihoods of the people, the opposition party has paralysed governance solely for the sake of impeachments, special investigations, and shielding their leader from justice,” he
GLOBAL SUPPORT: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the motion highlighted the improper exclusion of Taiwan from international discussion and cooperative mechanisms Taiwan yesterday thanked the British parliament for passing a motion stating that UN Resolution 2758 does not involve Taiwan, making it the latest body to reject China’s interpretation of the resolution. The House of Commons on Thursday debated the international status of Taiwan and unanimously passed a pro-Taiwan motion stating that the House “notes that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the political status of Taiwan or establish PRC [People’s Republic of China] sovereignty over Taiwan and is silent both on the status of Taiwan in the UN and on Taiwanese participation in UN agencies.” British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Parliamentary
HIGH ALERT: The armed forces are watching for a potential military drill by China in response to the president’s trip, with the air force yesterday conducting an exercise President William Lai (賴清德) is to make stopovers in Hawaii and the US territory of Guam during his seven-day trip to the South Pacific, his first official visit since taking office in May, the Presidential Office said yesterday. Lai, accompanied by a delegation, is scheduled to depart for the South Pacific on a chartered flight at 4:30pm tomorrow, stopping first in Hawaii for a two-night layover before traveling to the Marshall Islands, an office official said. After wrapping up his visits to the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu, the president is to transit through Guam, spending a night there before flying to Palau,
RSS