Rebels link Damascus bombs to al-Qaeda

The head of Syria’s main opposition group said yesterday the twin suicide car bombings that killed 55 people in Damascus appeared to be the work of al-Qaeda forces he said were linked to the regime of president Bashar al-Assad.

Burhan Ghalioun, chief of the opposition Syrian National Council, also said the ceasefire brokered by UN envoy Kofi Annan was “in crisis” because it lacks teeth.

Mr Ghalioun said there would be “no peaceful solution” to the violence in Syria without “a threat of force against those who don’t implement the plan”.

“Assad feels that he can run away from implementing all of his obligations without any consequences,” he said.

In Damascus, workers paved over two massive craters caused by the bombs that struck a Syrian military compound on Thursday. The attack, which also wounded more than 370 people, was the deadliest against a regime target since the uprising began 14 months ago.

The bombings fueled fears of a rising Islamic militant element among the forces seeking to oust Assad and dealt a further blow to international efforts to end the bloodshed. The government blamed the blasts on armed terrorists it says are driving the uprising.

But Mr Ghalioun said he didn’t think “these radical forces … are isolated from the regime”.

“The relationship between the Syrian regime and al-Qaeda is very strong,” he said, adding that the Syrian government had cooperated with al-Qaeda against United States’ forces in Iraq, as well as in its movements in Lebanon.

Mr Ghalioun was visiting Tokyo at the invitation of the Japanese government and is appealing for diplomatic support and more humanitarian aid.