A government meeting between Syrian officials in Damascus this morning was interrupted by a rebel-coordinated bomb blast, killing four influential figures in President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Assad is reported to have been absent at the meeting, but has not made a public statement.
From the article:
Syria’s defense minister and President Bashar al-Assad’s brother-in-law were killed in a Damascus suicide bomb attack carried out by a bodyguard on Wednesday, the worst blow to Assad’s high command in the country’s 16-month-old rebellion.
The bomber, said by a security source to be a bodyguard assigned to Assad’s inner circle, struck a meeting in central Damascus attended by ministers and senior security officials as battles raged within sight of the nearby presidential palace.
Washington, which fears a spillover into neighboring states, said the situation seemed to be spinning out of control …