UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council have condemned the deadly bomb blasts in the Syrian capital, Damascus.
State media said the double suicide bombing on May 10 left 55 dead and some 370 wounded in what reports described as the bloodiest attacks in the Syrian capital since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began 14 months ago.
Ban called on all sides to halt the violence and implement the peace plan — including a cease-fire — put forth by the international mediator, Kofi Annan. “There is an urgent call on all sides fully to comply with their obligations to cease armed violence in all its forms, and to protect civilians, as well as to distance themselves from indiscriminate bombings and other terrorist acts,” Ban’s spokesman, Martin Nesirky, said.
“And let me just say of course, the secretary-general strongly condemns today’s attacks in Damascus, which killed more than 50 people and injured scores of others.” The United States, Russia, and the European Union also condemned the attacks, but Moscow accused unspecified foreign countries of encouraging such violence.
Cease-Fire Failing?
U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said the United States remained concerned over Syria and repeated calls for Assad to step down. “The cease-fire does not appear to be working, and Annan himself has indicated concerns about whether or not parties are abiding by the cease-fire,” Panetta said.
“There must be a change there,” he added. “They’ve lost their legitimacy by the huge number of deaths that are taking place in Syria.” He added that U.S. intelligence indicated “an Al-Qaeda presence in Syria” but said the extent of the terrorist network’s activity was unclear.
No one claimed responsibility for the bombings, but the government and the opposition blamed one another.
An opposition spokesman accused the Assad government of staging the attack in order to convince the international community it faces a terrorist threat. The explosions targeted a military-intelligence building.
The attacks came a day after a bomb exploded near UN observers monitoring the cease-fire.
