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BEIRUT – A car bomb in the parking lot of a Syrian military compound killedat least nine people Saturday, the latest in increasingly frequentbombings in the country's major cities to target the regime'ssecurity services. President Barack Obama said the members of the Group of Eightindustrial nations support the U.N.'s peace plan for Syria, butadded that it had not taken hold fast enough. In Damascus, top United Nations' peacekeeping and militaryofficials met with Syrian officials to try to salvage that peaceplan, which has been marred by daily violence and dismissed by theopposition as unrealistic. A cease-fire that was supposed to startlast month has never really taken hold, undermining the rest ofinternational envoy Kofi Annan's plan, which is supposed to lead totalks to end the 14-month crisis. Saturday's suicide bombing struck the eastern city of Deir al-Zour,blowing holes in the walls of nearby buildings and sending up aplume of smoke that stretched across the horizon. Video broadcast on Syrian state TV showed damaged buildings,smoldering cars and trucks flipped upside down. Debris filled astreet that was stained with blood. The station said a suicidebomber detonated a vehicle carrying 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds)of explosives and that the blast left a crater five meters (15feet) wide and more than 2 meters (6 feet) deep. The state-run news agency SANA said the blast hit the parking lotof a military residential compound, while an opposition group, theBritain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported thatthe bomb went off close to the city branches of the MilitaryIntelligence Directorate and Air Force Intelligence. Syria's state news agency posted photos of U.N. observers —some of the about 260 currently in Syria as part of Annan's plan— visiting the blast site. Attacks like the one in Deir al-Zour, which once served as atransit hub for militants heading to fight U.S. forces inneighboring Iraq, have raised fears that militant Islamists aretaking advantage of chaos in Syria to carry out al-Qaida-styleattacks. No one immediately claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack.The government blamed it on "terrorists," who it says are behindthe uprising against President Bashar Assad. A spokesman for the city's rebel military council denied theopposition was behind the attack and blamed the blast on theregime. "This is not our style because we work to protect civilians andtheir homes from the bullets and shells of Assad's gangs," MohammedAttallah said in a video posted online Saturday. "So how could wecarry out such a huge criminal act that killed citizens and causedgreat material damage?" A group calling itself the Al-Nusra Front has claimed previousattacks through statements posted on militant websites. Little isknown about the group, although Western intelligence officials sayit could be a front for a branch of al-Qaida militants from Iraqoperating in Syria. The country's last major bombing targeted an intelligence buildingin Damascus on May 10. It struck during morning rush hour and thehigh death toll — some 55 people — made it thedeadliest attack of the uprising. Saturday's bombing was the third so far in May. April and March sawtwo major bombings each, while the three previous months all hadone each. Most of the attacks have been near security-relatedbuildings in Aleppo and Damascus, Syria's two largest cities, whichhave largely stood by Assad throughout the uprising. The revolt started in March 2011 with mostly peaceful protestscalling for political change. As the government cracked down ondissent, many in the opposition took up arms to protect themselvesand attack government troops. The U.N. said weeks ago that 9,000people had been killed. Hundreds more have died since. Violence has dropped since the U.N. observers began arriving in thecountry as part of Annan's peace plan, which has been marred bycontinued daily violence and dismissed by the opposition asunrealistic. At a meeting outside Washington of the Group of Eight industrialnations, Obama said the G-8 nations support the U.N. plan forSyria, but added that it has not taken hold fast enough. World powers remain divided on how to end Syria's crisis. The U.S.and other Western and Arab nations have called for Assad to leavepower, and the U.S. and European Union have placed increasinglystiff sanctions on Damascus. But with Russia and China blocking significant new U.N.punishments, U.S. officials are trying to get consensus among otherallies about ways to promote Assad's ouster. "We all believe that a peaceful resolution and political transitionin Syria is preferable," Obama said Saturday in Camp David,Maryland. In Damascus, a senior U.N. delegation that included Babacar Gaye,military adviser to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and U.N.peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous was in Damascus on Saturday andwas expected to meet with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem. The chief of the U.N. observers in Syria, Maj. Gen. Robert Mood,and Annan deputy Jean-Marie Guehenno are also to take part in themeeting. Ladsous told reporters Saturday that he met with some observers and"reminded them of the importance of the mission, which is basicallyto save lives by confirming the reduction in the level of overallviolence." He added that a drop in bloodshed would help create conditions"that could be conducive to some political processes being startedby the initiative of the joint special envoy." ___ Associated Press writers Anne Gearan and Jim Kuhnhenn contributedreporting from Camp David, Maryland. I am an expert from cobledlighting.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Led Rechargeable Searchlight , Led Bathroom Lighting Fixtures Manufacturer, Cob Led Downlight,and more.
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