The headquarters of the Syrian ruling party in Damascus has been shelled with propelled grenades on Sunday. The new violence erupted just hours after the Arab League ultimatum for the Syrian leadership to stop the crackdown on protesters expired.
At least two rocket propelled grenades were fired at the Baath Party headquarters in Damascus early on Sunday. There have been no reports of deaths or injuries, however. According to local media the building was mostly empty at the time of the attack.
“The attack was just before dawn and the building was mostly empty. It seems to have been intended as a message to the regime,” confirmed a witness, as cited by Reuters.
It was the first insurgent attack reported in Damascus since the uprising against the Assad regime began in mid-March.
The attack came hours after the deadline for Bashar al-Assad to put an end to the violence and accept the Arab League’s peace plan expired at 2200 GMT on Saturday.
In its ultimatum, the Arab League had requested a pullout of military force from Syrian cities and an immediate end to violence against the protesters. The league has already suspended Syria from the bloc and threatened more sanctions if the regime continues the bloodshed.
On Friday, Syria agreed in principle to allow Arab observers into the country to oversee a peace plan, though the agreement in writing was not concluded. Some critics accused Assad of stalling the situation after the Syrian government suggested amendments to the plan.
According to the plan, some 500 observers were expected to come to Syria, including representatives of human rights organizations, journalists, doctors, lawyers and civilian experts. The Syrian government agreed to secure a free movement across the country for the observers.
Assad vows to continue ‘enforcing law and order’
Meanwhile, President Bashar al-Assad said he would continue to fight against the militants, despite the increasing international pressure on Syria.
“The conflict will continue and the pressure to subjugate Syria will continue,” he said in an interview with Sunday Times newspaper. “However, I assure you that Syria will not bow down and that it will continue to resist the pressure being imposed on it.”
Assad also commented the Arab League’s demand to pull the military out of the cities, saying that plan would not stop the violence.
“The only way is to search for the armed people, chase the armed gangs, prevent the entry of arms and weapons from neighboring countries, prevent sabotage and enforce law and order,” he said.
Assad still insists that his country is under constant attacks by groups of armed terrorists, who pretend to be peaceful protesters and infuse the violence.
The president, however, acknowledged some mistakes and the use of excessive force were taking place, but assured that those who were guilty in firing at unarmed protesters or giving orders to do so have been detained.
“We, as a state, do not have a policy to be cruel with citizens,” Assad said.
The Syrian leader also pointed out that the opposition exaggerates the number of people, who were killed since the uprising began, and said that the real figures are far from the 3,500 deaths reported by the UN.
According to the Assad, the official number of civilian deaths is 619, with most of them occurring during the crossfire between the military and armed gangs. Assad also said that the anti-regime riots across the country had taken the lives of many of his supporters among the civilians and more than 800 police officers and soldiers.
Meanwhile the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees claims the regime’s latest attacks on opposition groups occurred early Saturday, a day after 16 civilians, including two children, were reportedly killed by government forces.