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| Besieged Syrian Leader Makes Rare Appearance | Besieged Syrian Leader Makes Rare Appearance |
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| BEIRUT, Lebanon — President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, apparently seeking to counter the impression of a leader in hiding after consecutive days of suspected insurgent bombings in his power base, Damascus, made a rare public appearance on Wednesday, visiting workers at an electric station. | BEIRUT, Lebanon — President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, apparently seeking to counter the impression of a leader in hiding after consecutive days of suspected insurgent bombings in his power base, Damascus, made a rare public appearance on Wednesday, visiting workers at an electric station. |
| Syrian state television and the official SANA news agency said Mr. Assad mingled with workers at the Umayyad Electrical Station and congratulated them on the occasion of international Labor Day. Photographs showed Mr. Assad dressed in a dark suit as workers showed him the facility. | Syrian state television and the official SANA news agency said Mr. Assad mingled with workers at the Umayyad Electrical Station and congratulated them on the occasion of international Labor Day. Photographs showed Mr. Assad dressed in a dark suit as workers showed him the facility. |
| “They want us to be afraid. Well, we won’t be afraid,” Mr. Assad said in one television clip, as loyalists in the background chanted: “May god protect you.” | |
| Mr. Assad, whose government is fighting an increasingly violent insurgency that grew out of his repression of peaceful political protests more than two years ago, is not often seen outside his heavily guarded presidential palace these days. His appearance followed a car bombing assassination attempt on Monday aimed at his prime minister and a bombing on Tuesday that killed at least 13 people outside a former Interior Ministry building. The attacks were carried out in the heart of Damascus, the capital, which has remained basically under the control of Mr. Assad’s loyalist forces. | Mr. Assad, whose government is fighting an increasingly violent insurgency that grew out of his repression of peaceful political protests more than two years ago, is not often seen outside his heavily guarded presidential palace these days. His appearance followed a car bombing assassination attempt on Monday aimed at his prime minister and a bombing on Tuesday that killed at least 13 people outside a former Interior Ministry building. The attacks were carried out in the heart of Damascus, the capital, which has remained basically under the control of Mr. Assad’s loyalist forces. |
| His visit to the power station coincided with a new set of explosions in central Damascus. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group based in Britain but with a reporting network in Syria, said that rockets hit the Bab Mesalla neighborhood, an area of shops and a transportation hub, and that a bomb detonated near the police headquarters on nearby Khalid bin Walid Street, a site of previous bomb attacks. SANA later confirmed the attacks, saying at least two people were killed and 28 wounded. It attributed the attacks to terrorists, the Assad government’s blanket description for armed opponents. | |
| The insurgency has left more than 70,000 people dead, according to the United Nations, and raised the prospect of an American military intervention because of evidence that Mr. Assad has used some of his military’s stockpile of chemical munitions in the conflict, which President Obama has called a “red line." While Mr. Obama has said the evidence is incomplete and more verifiable facts are required, he is considering providing lethal military aid to the insurgency, administration officials in Washington said on Tuesday. | The insurgency has left more than 70,000 people dead, according to the United Nations, and raised the prospect of an American military intervention because of evidence that Mr. Assad has used some of his military’s stockpile of chemical munitions in the conflict, which President Obama has called a “red line." While Mr. Obama has said the evidence is incomplete and more verifiable facts are required, he is considering providing lethal military aid to the insurgency, administration officials in Washington said on Tuesday. |
| Mr. Assad has faced increasing isolation as the conflict has worsened. Even Russia, his most important foreign backer, has reduced contacts with the country. On Tuesday, the Russian aviation authorities ordered all Russian commercial aircraft to avoid Syrian airspace after an episode on Monday in which a Russian passenger plane was forced to detour to avoid combat activity, Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency reported. | Mr. Assad has faced increasing isolation as the conflict has worsened. Even Russia, his most important foreign backer, has reduced contacts with the country. On Tuesday, the Russian aviation authorities ordered all Russian commercial aircraft to avoid Syrian airspace after an episode on Monday in which a Russian passenger plane was forced to detour to avoid combat activity, Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency reported. |
| The crew of the aircraft, a NordWind Airlines Airbus A320 en route from Sharm el Sheik, Egypt, to the central Russian city of Kazan, said it was forced to climb for safety reasons, RIA Novosti reported. It was unclear whether the aircraft had been targeted by any combatants on the ground. | The crew of the aircraft, a NordWind Airlines Airbus A320 en route from Sharm el Sheik, Egypt, to the central Russian city of Kazan, said it was forced to climb for safety reasons, RIA Novosti reported. It was unclear whether the aircraft had been targeted by any combatants on the ground. |
Hwaida Saad reported from Beirut, and Rick Gladstone from New York. Hania Mourtada contributed reporting from Beirut. | Hwaida Saad reported from Beirut, and Rick Gladstone from New York. Hania Mourtada contributed reporting from Beirut. |