The Syrian regime held funerals on Saturday for 26 people killed in a Damascus suicide bombing that it called a “terrorist attack,” promising an “iron fist” response to the second such incident in two weeks. The opposition has pointed the finger at the regime itself, as it did after similar attacks in the capital on December 23, in which 44 people died.
The funerals were taking place in the Al-Hassan mosque in the working-class Midan neighbourhood where Friday’s attack took place.
As thousands of regime supporters gathered outside, many waving flags, Damascus mufti Bashir Eid preached a funeral sermon in the presence of several ministers, officials and ordinary people.
“With our souls and our blood we will sacrifice ourselves for you,” the crowd outside chanted to President Bashar al-Assad.
The ruling party’s Al-Baath daily devoted half of its Saturday issue to the attack, in which 63 people were also wounded, including two pages of colour photos of the carnage.
The headline leading three pages of commentary and interviews said Syrians were calling for the perpetrators to be “struck with an iron fist.”
On Friday, the interior ministry said “we will strike with an iron fist all those who undermine the security of the nation.” Another headline said “we are not afraid of oil money,” an allusion to alleged involvement in the 10-month-old pro-democracy uprising by Gulf Arab oil states.
And the official Ath-Thawra daily said “terrorism is uprooted, not cured, and its eradication is inevitable.” It pointed the finger at Islamists, saying they “committed many crimes in the past and they are doing it again today as a sign of defiance.”
That was a reference to bloody attacks during a rebellion by the Muslim Brotherhood between 1978 and 1986 which was brutally crushed by Assad’s late father and predecessor, Hafez.
But the Brotherhood, which has since renounced violence, said on Friday that “we hold the regime, its agents and its gangs, fully responsible for this crime.” It had also accused the government of orchestrating the December 23 attacks that the regime blamed on Al-Qaeda, and it called for an international probe, claiming the attack benefited the regime.
The umbrella Syrian National Council, which includes the Brotherhood, said Friday’s bombing “clearly bears the regime’s fingerprints.” The United States condemned the attack, again calling for Assad to step down, while UN chief Ban Ki-moon said “all violence is unacceptable and must stop immediately.”
