Syria

Thousands Attend Funeral for Bombing Victims

Government blames al Qaeda.

Thousands of Syrian government supporters attended the funeral service on Saturday for the victims of a deadly bombing in Damascus that killed at least 26. The Interior Ministry described the bombing as having “the fingerprints” of the terror network despite the deadly crackdown that Syrian security forces have taken against antigovernment protesters, who have been demonstrating on Fridays for months. Crowds lined the streets on Saturday waving pictures of President Bashar al-Assad, state media reported, and chanted, "We want Assad." Meanwhile, some Syrian officials blamed the Arab League. Human-rights activists also said on Saturday that security forces fired on protesters at sit-ins in two parts of the country, killing one and wounding at least 20 others. A top Syrian military official reportedly defected Saturday along with at least 50 of his men, annoucing their defection on Al Jazeera's live broadcast.