Post date: May 10, 2012 8:46:29 PM
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES (MAY 10, 2012) (RESTRICTED POOL) - U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said Thursday (May 10) that he had "no information" if al Qaeda had any involvement in two suicide car bombings that killed 55 people and wounded 372 in Damascus.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says al Qaeda is present in Syria, but the United States does not have a gauge on what activities the group is engaged in.
Syria's foreign ministry said the attacks were a sign that the major Arab state was facing foreign-backed terrorism and urged the U.N. Security Council to combat countries or groups supporting such violence.
When asked at a Pentagon news conference if the United States believed al Qaeda was involved in the attack, Panetta responded, "I have no information to that effect - as to whether or not they're involved there.
Obviously, the situation in Syria remains of a great concern. The ceasefire does not appear to be working, and Annan himself has indicated concerns about whether or not parties are abiding by the ceasefire. We continue to urge Assad to step down. There must be a change there. They've lost their legitimacy by huge number of deaths that are taking place in Syria. And again, we are working with the international community to try to make sure we take all steps necessary to try to do what we can to implement the necessary political reforms, to have Assad step down, and to try to return Syria to the Syrian people. This is not easy. There are no easy courses here, but I think the most important thing we can do now is to continue to work with the international community to bring pressure on Syria to do the right thing."
The U.S. defense secretary did acknowledge al Qaeda's presence in Syria.
"Al Qaeda anywhere is a concern for us, and we do have intelligence that indicates that there is an al Qaeda presence in Syria. But frankly, we don't have very good intelligence as to just exactly what their activities are. And that's the reason we can't really indicate specifically what they are or not doing, but they are a concern, and frankly, we need to continue to do everything we can to determine what kind of influence they're trying to exert there."
The attacks Thursday were the deadliest in the Syrian capital since an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began 14 months ago. The near-simultaneous explosions hit the al-Qazaz district just before 8 a.m. (0500 GMT), residents said. One punched a crater three metres (10 feet) deep in the city's southern ring road. Bloodied corpses and body parts could be seen on the road.
The blasts further shredded a ceasefire that was declared by international mediator Kofi Annan on April 12 but that has failed to halt bloodshed pitting Assad's security forces against peaceful demonstrators and an array of armed insurgents.
The White House and the United Nations also condemned the attacks.