Damascus Denies Rebel Attack On Convoy; President Assad Appears On TV Unharmed
Rebels claim they targeted motorcade with 17 mortar rounds; Syrian information minister calls report ‘wholly untrue’
By HAVIV RETTIG GUR August 8, 2013, 12:18 pm
The Syrian government denied reports Thursday that the presidential convoy of President Bashar Assad was attacked in the capital earlier in the morning.
“The news is wholly untrue,” said Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi on Syrian state television. Zoubi said the president and his convoy were not affected by the mortar attacks, telling state TV that Assad drove his own car to the mosque
Earlier, Assad appeared on Syrian television performing Eid prayers — footage that was reportedly aired live. In the broadcast, Assad, dressed in a suit, is seen praying in a mosque next to Syria’s grand mufti to mark Eid al-Fitr, the three-day holiday that ends the holy month of Ramadan. The TV channel said the president attended prayers in the Anas bin Malik Mosque in Damascus. The Eid prayers are typically an hour or two after sunrise. In previous years, Assad has been seen attending them early in the morning.
It was the Syrian leader’s third public appearance in over a week as his regime tries to capitalize on recent gains on the battlefield against rebels fighting to oust him from power.
MORE...
http://www.timesofisrael.com/damascus-denies-rebel-attack-on-convoy-president-appears-on-state-tv-unharmed/
