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| Syria conflict: Deadly blasts near Sayyida Zeinab shrine | |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| At least 45 people have been killed in three blasts near the Shia shrine of Sayyida Zeinab, south of the capital Damascus, Syrian state media say. | |
| Scores of people were also reported to have been wounded. | |
| The shrine, which is highly revered by Shia Muslims, has been targeted before, most recently in February last year. | The shrine, which is highly revered by Shia Muslims, has been targeted before, most recently in February last year. |
| The attacks came as delegates from the Syrian government and opposition groups gathered in Geneva for tentative UN-sponsored peace talks. | |
| The main opposition group backed down from its threat to boycott the talks. but says the Syrian government must meet its demands if negotiations are to start. | |
| What hope for the talks? | |
| International system has failed Syria | |
| The story of the conflict | |
| Syrian state media say the blasts near Sayyida Zeinab were caused by a car bomb and two suicide bombers. | |
| TV footage showed burning buildings and destroyed cars. | |
| The shrine contains the grave of one of the Prophet Muhammad's grand-daughters. It continues to draw many Shia pilgrims, despite the civil war. | |
| BBC Arab affairs editor Sebastian Usher says Shia fighters from around the region have joined the conflict in Syria on the grounds that they wish to protect the shrine from the civil war. | |
| The Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah has cited it as a key reason that it chose to fight on the side of President Bashar al-Assad, he adds. | |
| More than 250,000 people have died and 11 million have fled their homes in almost five years of civil war in Syria. The violence has also been the biggest driver behind Europe's migration crisis. | |
| In Geneva, the delegation of the Saudi-backed opposition group the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) was meeting UN envoy Staffan de Mistura on Sunday. | |
| A spokesman said earlier that they stood by their demand for an end to air strikes and blockades before they would negotiate with the Syrian government. |