Report: Al-Qaida behind recent terror attacks in Syria
McClatchy cites U.S. officials as saying that
intelligence shows that recent bombings in Syria were carried out by
Al-Qaida's Iraq branch, on the orders of Ayman al-Zawahiri.

By
Haaretz


Tags:
Al-Qaida
Syria
Bashar Assad


Al-Qaida's branch in Iraq carried out two
recent terrorist attacks in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and was likely
responsible for the bombings in Aleppo on Friday that killed at least
28 people, McClatchy reported, citing U.S. officials.




U.S. intelligence reports were said to show
that the Syria bombings were ordered by al-Qaida leader Ayman
al-Zawahiri, seemingly verifying Syrian President Bashar Assad's
assertions of al-Qaida involvement in the uprising in Syria.

The
two Aleppo bombings on Friday were the worst attack to hit the
country's commercial hub during the revolt against the 42-year dynastic
rule by the family of President Bashar Assad.




No one claimed responsibility for the Aleppo
bombings but they took place as Assad's forces grow more ferocious in
operations to crush the uprising. Some opposition figures accused the
government of manipulating events to discredit them.




On December 23 and January 6, intelligence compounds in Damascus were hit by bomb blasts, killing a total of at least 70 people.




At the United Nations on Friday, Saudi Arabia circulated a draft resolution
backing an Arab peace plan for Syria among members of the UN General
Assembly, after a similar text was vetoed in the Security Council last
week by Russia and China, diplomats said.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/report-al-qaida-behind-recent-terror-attacks-in-syria-1.412300