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| Huge blast at Mezzeh military airport in Damascus | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A huge blast has been reported in the western Mezzeh suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus. | A huge blast has been reported in the western Mezzeh suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus. |
| Syrian state TV said the blast was caused by "a terrorist attempt to target Mezzeh military airport". | Syrian state TV said the blast was caused by "a terrorist attempt to target Mezzeh military airport". |
| Activist groups say the airport was the source of a huge explosion that was heard throughout most of the capital. | Activist groups say the airport was the source of a huge explosion that was heard throughout most of the capital. |
| Mezzeh military airport is an important strategic installation and plays a significant role in distributing the government's military supplies. | Mezzeh military airport is an important strategic installation and plays a significant role in distributing the government's military supplies. |
| Activists said a big fire was raging inside the airport and that ambulances were heading to the scene. | Activists said a big fire was raging inside the airport and that ambulances were heading to the scene. |
| The UK-based activist group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), said that a car bomb had been detonated targeting a military checkpoint near the airport. | The UK-based activist group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), said that a car bomb had been detonated targeting a military checkpoint near the airport. |
| Mezzeh military airport is an important buffer between several outlying suburbs to the south-west, which are largely in rebel hands, and the core of the city including the nearby presidential palace, the BBC's Jim Muir reports from Beirut. | |
| In recent weeks, government forces have pushed the rebels back from many of the suburbs ringing the capital. | |
| If the airport was the target of a car bombing, it will not bring the rebels any closer to over-running the city centre, which at present they are not in a position to do, our correspondent adds. | |
| In April, state media reported that Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi survived a car bomb attack in the same district. | In April, state media reported that Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi survived a car bomb attack in the same district. |
| Last month, Syria accused Israel of launching rocket attacks on a military facility near Damascus and on a shipment of missiles near the Lebanese border. | Last month, Syria accused Israel of launching rocket attacks on a military facility near Damascus and on a shipment of missiles near the Lebanese border. |
| 'Chorus of conspiracy' | |
| Also on Sunday, Syria condemned Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi for cutting off diplomatic relations between the two countries. | |
| Mr Morsi had joined a "chorus of conspiracy and incitement led by America", an "official source" told the state-run Sana news agency. | |
| Mr Morsi announced that Syria's embassy in Cairo would be shut and Egypt's representative withdrawn from Damascus. He also called on the international community to impose a no-fly zone over the country. | |
| Addressing a rally in support of the Syrian opposition on Saturday, Mr Morsi went on to call on the Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah to withdraw from the fighting in Syria. | |
| Some Sunni Muslim clerics have urged support for rebels in Syria. |