Suicide blasts kill nine in Idlib

Mourners with the body of an activist who was shot by Syrian security forces on Sunday, during his funeral procession in Damascus yesterday.

BEIRUT // Two suicide bombers blew up cars rigged with explosives near a military compound and a hotel in north-western Syria yesterday, killing at least nine people and wounding nearly 100, state media said.

The blasts, which ripped the facade off a multistorey building, marked the latest setback for the United Nations effort to end Syria's 13-month-old uprising.

An April 12 ceasefire agreement has helped reduce violence, but fighting persists and UN officials have singled out the Syrian regime as the main aggressor. An advance team of 16 UN observers is on the ground to try to salvage the truce, which is part of a broader plan by the special envoy, Kofi Annan, to launch talks between President Bashar Al Assad and his opponents.

The head of the observer mission, Maj Gen Robert Mood, said yesterday that his force cannot solve the country's crisis, and he urged both sides to stop fighting.

"Ten, 30, 300 or 1,000 observers will not solve all problems," he said on the first day after his arrival in Damascus. "So everyone has to help us achieve this mission."

At the moment, 16 observers are on the ground. By mid-May, the team is to grow to 100, but UN officials have not said by when a full 300-member contingent is to be deployed.

Yesterday's bombs went off in the city of Idlib, an opposition stronghold that government troops recaptured in a military offensive earlier this year.

The state-run news agency Sana said security forces and civilians were among those killed, while state TV said that many of the nearly 100 wounded were civilians. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist network, put the death toll at more than 20 people.

Syria's pro-government Al-Ekhbariya TV aired footage of the aftermath, showing torn flesh, smashed cars, twisted debris and a pavement stained with blood. Pro-government websites said five buildings were damaged.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attacks. State media blamed "armed terrorists", a term it uses for rebels trying to topple the government. Activists claimed the regime was behind the bombings to discredit the opposition.

The bombers detonated their explosives near a military compound and close to the city's Carlton Hotel, Sana said.

A local activist said the two sites were several hundred metres apart and that the explosions took place within five minutes of each other after daybreak yesterday.

Two members of the UN observer team toured the site, Sana said. The activist said the observers have been staying at the Carlton, and a pro-government website reported that the hotel sustained damage.

Yesterday's explosions were the latest in a series of suicide bombings to hit Syria.

An Islamist group called the Al Nusra Front to Protect the Levant claimed responsibility yesterday for a suicide bombing in central Damascus that killed at least 10 people on Friday.

Earlier yesterday, gunmen fired rocket-propelled grenades at the central bank and a police patrol in Damascus, wounding four officers, Sana said. The bank's governor, Adib Mayaleh, said the only damage was shattered windows. He also denied reports that Syria is trying to sell gold reserves to raise money as international sanctions take their toll.

The French foreign minister, Alain Juppe, said earlier this month that sanctions had reduced Syria's foreign currency reserves by half.

The bank doesn't need to sell gold "as we have a big quantity of hard currency that can stand up to all those attacks," Mr Mayaleh said.

Near Damascus, amateur video posted yesterday showed dozens of uniformed troops in helmets and body armour marching through a street in the suburb of Douma. An activist, Mohammed Saeed, said the troops were carrying out arrests for a second day yesterday.

In another suburb, Zamalka, activists said security forces tried to break a commercial strike by damaging shops that had been closed in solidarity with the protest. An amateur video showed rows of shuttered shops. Another showed dozens of men marching in Zamalka, chanting "strike, strike".

As part of the ceasefire agreement, Syria's military was to have pulled tanks and troops off the streets, but has instead continued to raid and attack opposition strongholds.

In London, the British foreign secretary, William Haguem warned that "there is a limit to the patience of the international community" with the regime's continued truce violations.

However, western powers have limited options because Russia and China, Syria's allies, have shielded Mr Al Assad from action by the UN Security Council.

Mr Hague said more truce monitors must be sent to Syria to improve the situation and that Britain is increasing its non-lethal support for the opposition.

Also yesterday, a Lebanese security official said a Lebanese man, Antoine Haj, was shot in the shoulder near the Syrian border. The official said the bullet came from the Syrian side. Mr Haj was in a stable condition. It was not clear what caused the gunfire from the Syrian side.