Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Home
Business
Business Home
Economy
Technology
Media
Small Business
Legal
Deals
Earnings
Social Pulse
Business Video
The Freeland File
Markets
Markets Home
U.S. Markets
European Markets
Asian Markets
Global Market Data
Indices
M&A
Stocks
Bonds
Currencies
Commodities
Futures
Funds
peHUB
World
World Home
U.S.
Brazil
China
Euro Zone
Japan
Mexico
Russia
India Insight
World Video
Reuters Investigates
Decoder
Politics
Politics Home
Election 2012
Campaign Polling
Tales from the Trail
Political Punchlines
Supreme Court
Politics Video
Tech
Technology Home
MediaFile
Science
Tech Video
Tech Tonic
Social Pulse
Opinion
Opinion Home
Chrystia Freeland
John Lloyd
Felix Salmon
Jack Shafer
David Rohde
Bernd Debusmann
Nader Mousavizadeh
Lucy P. Marcus
David Cay Johnston
Bethany McLean
Anatole Kaletsky
Edward Hadas
Hugo Dixon
Ian Bremmer
Lawrence Summers
Susan Glasser
The Great Debate
Steven Brill
Jack & Suzy Welch
Frederick Kempe
Christopher Papagianis
Mark Leonard
Breakingviews
Equities
Credit
Private Equity
M&A
Macro & Markets
Politics
Breakingviews Video
Money
Money Home
Tax Break
Lipper Awards 2012
Global Investing
MuniLand
Unstructured Finance
Linda Stern
Mark Miller
John Wasik
James Saft
Analyst Research
Alerts
Watchlist
Portfolio
Stock Screener
Fund Screener
Personal Finance Video
Money Clip
Investing 201
Life
Health
Sports
Arts
Faithworld
Business Traveler
Entertainment
Oddly Enough
Lifestyle Video
Pictures
Pictures Home
Reuters Photographers
Full Focus
Video
Reuters TV
Reuters News
Article
Comments (11)
Slideshow
Video
Full Focus
Editor's choice
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. See more
Images of May
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
Supreme Court upholds Obama's healthcare law
|
1:22am EDT
EU summit deal sends shares, euro sharply higher
3:28am EDT
U.S. soldier shot dead at Fort Bragg Army base, two wounded
28 Jun 2012
Worst wildfire ever in Colorado claims first victim
|
3:35am EDT
RBS set for fine as Barclays boss remains defiant
3:55am EDT
Discussed
230
Supreme Court to deliver Obama healthcare law ruling
93
California tobacco tax hike narrowly defeated at polls
94
Sandusky lawyers may use NBC tape error in appeal
Watched
Oldest sound recording resurrected
Thu, Jun 28 2012
EU leaders start work on Spain & Italy
Thu, Jun 28 2012
Hong Kong's dirty habits
Wed, Jun 27 2012
Pictures
Reuters Photojournalism
Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption
Raging wildfires
Raging fires strike Colorado and Utah. Slideshow
Health in America
An essay of photos taken by Reuters photographers during assignments on health care. Slideshow
Blast hits Damascus, Turkey sends troops to border
Tweet
Share this
Email
Print
Related News
Syrian tanks amass near Turkish border: FSA general
Thu, Jun 28 2012
Syria's Assad says duty to "annihilate terrorists"
Thu, Jun 28 2012
Clinton in Russia to face off on Annan Syria plan
Thu, Jun 28 2012
Russia proposes changes to Annan's Syria proposal: envoys
Thu, Jun 28 2012
Analysis & Opinion
Barclays’ Libor penalty goes beyond the financial
Egypt election result stirs joy among Islamists, doubts in the Gulf and Israel
Related Topics
World »
United Nations »
Turkey »
Aerospace & Defense »
Syria »
Related Video
Erdogan says Turkey can teach Syria a lesson
Wed, Jun 27 2012
Bloody aftermath of Syrian TV station attack - Rough Cuts
Syria rebels attack regime tank
Syrians seek refuge in Lebanon
Blast targets Damascus court
Turkey sends anti-aircraft weapons to Syrian border
1 of 17. Wrecked cars are seen at the site of an explosion outside Syria's highest court in central Damascus June 28, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Khaled alHariri
By Erika Solomon and Khaled Yacoub Oweis
BEIRUT/ISKENDERUN, Turkey |
Thu Jun 28, 2012 8:05pm EDT
BEIRUT/ISKENDERUN, Turkey (Reuters) - Rebel forces attacked Syria's main court in central Damascus on Thursday, state television said, while Turkey deployed troops and anti-aircraft rocket launchers to the Syrian border, building pressure on President Bashar al-Assad.
A loud explosion echoed through the streets and a column of black smoke rose over Damascus, an Assad stronghold that until the last few days had seemed largely beyond the reach of rebels. State television described it as a "terrorist" blast.
Dozens of wrecked and burning cars were strewn over a car park used by lawyers and judges. The state news agency SANA said three people had been wounded by a bomb hidden in one of the cars.
The fighting coincided with a Turkish military buildup on its border with Syria and a growing sense of urgency in Western- and Arab-backed diplomatic efforts to promote the idea of a unity government to end 16 months of bloodshed.
But Assad himself dismissed the idea of any outside solution to Syria's crisis.
"We will not accept any non-Syrian, non-national model, whether it comes from big countries or friendly countries. No one knows how to solve Syria's problems as well as we do," Assad told the state television channel of Syria's ally Iran.
He said Turkey's official stance belied the Turkish people's "positive view" of Syria.
A first substantial convoy of about 30 Turkish military vehicles, including trucks loaded with anti-aircraft missile batteries dispatched from the coastal town of Iskenderun, headed towards the Syrian border 50 km (30 miles) away.
A Turkish official who declined to be named said he did not know how many troops or vehicles were being moved but they were being stationed in the Yayladagi, Altinozu and Reyhanli border areas.
A general in the rebel Free Syria Army said on Friday that Syrian government forces had amassed around 170 tanks north of the city Aleppo, near the Turkish border, but there was no independent confirmation of the report.
General Mustafa al-Sheikh, head of the Higher Military Council, an association of senior officers who defected from Assad's forces, said the tanks had assembled at the Infantry School near the village of Musalmieh northeast of the city of Aleppo, 30 kms (19 miles) from the Turkish border.
"The tanks are now at the Infantry School. They're either preparing to move to the border to counter the Turkish deployment or attack the rebellious (Syrian) towns and villages in and around the border zone north of Aleppo," Sheikh told Reuters by telephone from the border.
Last Friday Syria shot down a Turkish warplane over the Mediterranean. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan responded by ordering his troops to treat any Syrian military element approaching the border as a military target.
This could cover Syrian forces pursuing rebels towards the border, or patrolling helicopters or warplanes. Syria said at the weekend that it had killed several "terrorists" infiltrating from Turkey.
TURKISH CONVOYS
A Reuters reporter near the town of Antakya saw the Turkish convoy moving out of the hills and through small towns on a narrow highway escorted by police.
Another convoy left a base at Gaziantep and headed for Kilis province, the site of a large camp for Syrian refugees. Video from the DHA agency showed the group of about 12 trucks and transporters filing through the gates of the base.
David Hartwell, Middle East analyst at IHS Jane's, called the Turkish action a pragmatic response to the downing of the Turkish aircraft, which Syria says was flying low and fast in Syrian airspace. "Damascus has been warned once. I doubt there will be a second warning."
Turkey, in the front line of Western efforts to press Assad to step down, hosts 33,000 Syrian refugees near its southern border as well as units of the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA).
Members of the FSA, talking close to the border, told Reuters they did not believe the Turkish deployments were on a large scale or aimed at any crossborder intervention.
"The Turks know that any large-scale military action would need international support," said a senior FSA commander who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Turkey has in the past spoken of opening a humanitarian corridor on Syrian soil if the refugee flow grew unmanageable or if the violence and killing became intolerable.
Wary of igniting a regional sectarian war, it insists this would be possible only with U.N. backing. Western- and Arab-backed efforts to forge a joint diplomatic approach with Russia have so far failed.
Thursday's attack in Damascus follows weeks of growing FSA pressure. Rebels stormed a pro-Assad television channel on Wednesday, and have also targeted police and security barracks.
Syria denies there has been a mass popular uprising against Assad and says that the rebels who have now largely taken over from months of unarmed anti-government protests are foreign-backed Islamist terrorists, including members of al Qaeda.
Assad told Iranian television that his government had a duty to eliminate these to protect its people, and that Washington was content for al Qaeda to attack countries it did not like.
"When you eliminate a terrorist, it's possible that you are saving the lives of tens, hundreds, or even thousands," he said.
NEW ANNAN PLAN
Diplomats at the United Nations say international mediator Kofi Annan will seek backing from the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and key Middle East players on Saturday for a plan for a political transition in Syria.
They say the proposal does not stipulate that Assad must step down but does call for a unity government that would exclude figures who jeopardize stability - a condition that many not be enough to convince opposition groups to participate.
"The proposal is still murky to us but I can tell you that if it does not clearly state that Assad must step down, it will be unacceptable to us," said Samir Nashar, an executive member of the international Syrian National Council.
Rebel fighters said there was no part of the plan they could accept, and that they had lost patience with Annan's efforts.
"This is just a new labyrinth. It is new silliness for us to get lost in, and haggle over who can participate and who can't," said Ahmed, an FSA fighter in Homs, epicenter of the revolt against four decades of Assad family rule in which more than 10,000 people have been killed, by a U.N. count.
An FSA member in Damascus added: "The FSA is doing its work, and it is not looking to the outside world. We don't want a transitional government unless it is the one formed by rebel military councils. The world is conspiring against the Syrian revolution."
(Additional reporting by Jonathon Burch and Jon Hemming in Ankara, Marcus George, Yeganeh Torbati and Zahra Hosseinian in Dubai; Writing by Ralph Boulton; Editing by Janet McBride, Kevin Liffey and Michael Roddy)
World
United Nations
Turkey
Aerospace & Defense
Syria
Tweet this
Link this
Share this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (11)
AUSTELL-FROMKIN wrote:
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Back to top
Reuters.com
Business
Markets
World
Politics
Technology
Opinion
Money
Pictures
Videos
Site Index
Legal
Bankruptcy Law
California Legal
New York Legal
Securities Law
Support & Contact
Support
Corrections
Connect with Reuters
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
RSS
Podcast
Newsletters
Mobile
About
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
AdChoices
Copyright
Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider
An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution
A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance
Our next generation legal research platform
Our global tax workstation
Thomsonreuters.com
About Thomson Reuters
Investor Relations
Careers
Contact Us
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.