AAP
August 08, 2013 10:32PM
SYRIAN authorities have denied media reports of an attack on President Bashar al-Assad's motorcade as he was on his way to a mosque, which rebel groups say they had carried out with rockets and mortars.
Several media outlets, including Saudi-based Al-Arabiya satellite channel, had reported on Thursday that a rocket attack targeted Assad's motorcade as he travelled to the Anas bin Malik mosque in central Damascus to join the prayers marking the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday.
"Regarding the information reported by Al-Arabiya, I can assure you that it is completely false," Information Minister Omran al-Zohbi told state television.
"The president arrived at the mosque driving his own car, he attended the prayer and greeted everyone in the mosque as he does every day when he meets people," Zohbi added.
The minister slammed reports of the attack on the motorcade as a "projection of the dreams and illusions of certain media and the governments behind them," adding that they were a "joke".
"Everything is normal," Zohbi added. "They wanted to spoil the celebrations for Syrians."
Regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia is a strong supporter of the Sunni-led rebels seeking to oust Assad, a member of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog could not confirm the reported rocket attack but said mortar shells early Thursday hit the Malki area in central Damascus, near to where Assad was attending prayers.
The NGO did not report any casualties or victims in the shelling, which however indicated that rebels seeking to topple Assad are able to launch attacks despite relentless attempts by regime forces to clear the capital of insurgents.
Two rebel groups Liwa al-Islam and Liwa Tahrir al-Sham, meanwhile, separately claimed to have attacked the president's convoy.
"Liwa al-Islam's fighters used rockets to target Bashar al-Assad's motorcade near the Anas bin Malik mosque in the Malki area," the group said via Facebook.
An activist close to the group told the AFP Beirut bureau that the Islamist rebel brigade is one of the most active around the capital.
Another group, Liwa Tahrir al-Sham, also claimed the attack.
"We targeted Bashar al-Assad's motorcade using 17 120mm mortar shells, and we have confirmed that the motorcade was hit," the group said, also via Facebook.
Shortly after the reports emerged, Assad appeared in footage shown by state television sitting on the ground next to other dignitaries, looking relaxed and smiling during the morning prayer.
"Oh God, grant President Assad success, for the good of the country," Ahmed al-Jazairi, imam of the mosque said at the end of the prayer.
The Syrian president has rarely appeared in public since the beginning of the conflict in 2011. On August 1, he travelled to Daraya, a former rebel stronghold near Damascus, saying he was confident of "victory" against the rebels in a rare journey outside the capital.
On Sunday, Assad said that the only way to stamp out the uprising against him was "by striking it with an iron fist".
More than 100,000 people have died in Syria since the beginning of the country's bloody civil war in March 2011, sparked by the government's repression of demonstrations calling for democratic reforms.
The government has repeatedly blamed the violence in Syria on foreign-backed "terrorist" groups.
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/world/syria-rebels-hit-in-deadly-ambush/story-e6frfkui-1226693206435#ixzz2bPmfYXA9
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