Ban Ki-Moon, the UN secretary general, sided with the Syrian regime on Friday by blaming al-Qaeda for a double bombing that killed 55 people in Damascus last week.
Mr Ban’s assessment is likely to be seized on in Damascus, where President Bashar al-Assad has long claimed that the rebellion against his rule is dominated by extremists bent on turning Syria into an Islamist state.
“Very alarmingly and surprisingly, a few days ago there was a huge, serious,
massive terrorist attack,” the secretary general said. “I believe that there
must be al-Qaeda behind it. This has created again very serious problems.”
Both Damascus and Aleppo, Syria’s second city, have witnessed a spate of
mass-casualty bombings, generally targeting civilians, since last December
as the country’s uprising entered its tenth month.
On each occasion, Mr Assad has been quick to blame al Qaeda and a shadowy
group claiming affiliation to the network has claimed responsibility for a
number of the attacks, including last week’s bombing.
Mr Ban did not provide evidence for his claim, nor did he indicate whether he
believed that al-Qaeda was responsible for the earlier bombings.
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