Rebels Behind Hama Explosion, Russia Denounces Rebels’ Terror, AL to Meet on Syria

A Syrian official source stated Thursday that 16 people were killed, including women and children, and 12 others were wounded in an explosion in an apartment used by armed groups for building explosive devices in Hama.

Russia To Receive Opposition Delegation

Russia accused Thursday the Syrian rebels of waging a wide-scale terror campaign that is designed to kill as many civilians as possible despite a formal ceasefire.

"Opposition groups have essentially reverted to waging wide-scale terror in the region," the foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said, adding that " the attacks aimed at killing as many peaceful civilians as possible had the hallmarks of al-Qaeda involvement."

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will receive a delegation of the internal Syrian opposition from the "National Front for Change and Liberation" led by Qadri Jamil.
In an interview with Itar-Tass, the opposition figure hoped that "the visit to Moscow will contribute to the resolution of the Syrian crisis."
"Russian diplomacy plays an active role in this respect and we would like to coordinate our activities," he said, noting that " the balance of force indicates that we have to start negotiating."

According to Jamil, "the situation in the country is changing, albeit slowly, for the better after the arrival of the ceasefire monitoring group."
The Russian agency further reported that "external players stay committed to peaceful settlement and push the external opposition -- the Syrian National Council - towards further confrontation."

For his part, the Russian foreign Minister stressed that "the mission has already played a positive role."

He further hoped that "the number of observers will be increased to 300 shortly as required and approved by the United Nation's Security Council resolution."
"I hope that those who try to provoke the mission's failure in Syria will not succeed," he added.

Source: Itar-Tass, Edited by moqawama.org

Rebels Behind Hama Explosion, AL to Meet on Syria
Local Editor

A blast that killed at least 16 people in the central Syrian city of Hama on Wednesday was the work of militants who botched a bomb-making attempt, the Syrian state news agency announced Thursday.

The statement, citing an unnamed government official, stated that the blast was accidentally set off by militants preparing explosives in a building they had used to make bombs. The building collapsed and residents had to dig several victims out from beneath the rubble.

"An improvised explosive blew up last evening while it was being prepared, as part of a systematic escalation supported by regional and international powers using the tool of armed terrorist groups aimed at sabotaging international envoy Kofi Annan's mission," it said.

Two United Nations' observers have now returned to Hama. They form part of a small advance team, ahead of a team of 300 that the UN would like to deploy.
This came as Syrian Authorities foiled an infiltration attempt by an armed group from the Turkish territories into Syria near the borders with Idleb countryside.

SANA reporter quoted a source at Idleb Province as saying that "the authorities killed one of the terrorists, while the others escaped to Turkey."

Meanwhile, the Arab League foreign ministers are expected to meet urgently in Cairo on Thursday to discuss the situation in Syria, two weeks after a United Nations-brokered ceasefire came into effect.
According to new agencies, the AL foreign ministers would also discuss tensions between Sudan and South Sudan following recent fighting.

Source: SANA-News Agencies, Edited by moqawama.org

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