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Syria TV Shows Images of Assad with New Defense Minister

Syrian state television broadcast images on Thursday of President Bashar Assad in a meeting with the new defense minister, Fahd al-Freij.

This was the first public sighting of Assad since a bomb attack in Damascus on Wednesday killed three top regime officials, including Freij's predecessor, Daoud Rajha.

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EU Preparing More Syria Sanctions, Tighter Arms Embargo

The EU is preparing to freeze the assets of 26 Syrians close to President Bashar Assad while readying plans to board vessels and planes suspected of transporting arms for his regime, diplomats said Thursday.

The diplomats told Agence France Presse that foreign ministers from the 27-nation bloc were likely to agree at talks on Monday to inspect planes and ships believed to be carrying arms or goods used by the Damascus regime to put down protests.

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Syrians Flock to Lebanon after Damascus Bombing to Flee Their Country’s Unrest

The flow of Syrians flocking to Lebanon to escape their country’s unrest increased in light of Wednesday’s Damascus bombing that claimed the lives of three top security officials, reported the Central News Agency on Thursday.

Security sources told the news agency that the new wave of refugees includes several Lebanese students who were studying at the University of Damascus.

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Assad's Mother, Sister in Tartus for Shawkat Funeral

Syrian President Bashar Assad's mother and sister have gone to Tartus province for the funeral of his brother-in-law Assef Shawkat who was killed in Wednesday's Damascus bomb, a security source told Agence France Presse.

"Anissa Assad, the widow of (ex-president) Hafez al-Assad and her daughter Bushra traveled on Wednesday evening along with several women from their entourage to Latakia and they then made their way to Tartus," the source said.

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Barak Says Syria Blast 'a Severe Blow' to Axis with Iran, Hizbullah

Syria's alliance with Iran and Hizbullah took "a severe blow" after a deadly rebel attack on Damascus killed three top security chiefs, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Thursday.

"The blow is a severe one," said Barak on a tour of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, a day after a blast tore through Syria's national security headquarters, killing the defense minister and two other top officials close to President Bashar Assad.

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Hundreds Flee Damascus Fighting

Hundreds of Damascus residents fled from clashes and army shelling of several districts of the embattled Syrian capital Thursday, a rights watchdog reported, as the military gave them two days to get out.

The military said residents have 48 hours to leave areas where clashes are taking place between security forces and rebels, a security source told Agence France Presse.

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Mood Says Syria 'Not on Track for Peace'

Syria is not on track for peace and violence is escalating, the chief of the U.N. monitoring group said on Thursday, as clashes rocked Damascus and a day after three top regime officials died in a bombing.

"It pains me to say, but we are not on the track for peace in Syria, and the escalations we have witnessed in Damascus over the past few days is a testimony to that," Major General Robert Mood, head of the U.N. Supervision Mission in Syria, said in a statement to reporters.

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Berri Condemns Damascus Bombing: This Terrorist Act is Aimed at Fragmenting Syrian Army

Speaker Nabih Berri slammed on Thursday the “terrorist” bombing that targeted top Syrian security officials on Wednesday, saying that Syria will overcome its crisis and achieve peace.

He said in a statement: “The terrorist act is no doubt aimed at targeting the Syrian leadership in order to fragment the Syrian army, which acts as a guarantee for the country’s unity.”

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Over 200 Killed Wednesday in Syria

More than 200 people, mostly civilians, were killed on Wednesday in violence across Syria, including 38 in Damascus where armed rebels are pressing an all-out offensive, a monitoring group said.

At least 214 people -- 124 civilians, 62 soldiers and 28 rebels died in one of the bloodiest days of a 16-month revolt against President Bashar Assad's regime, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Thursday, revising an earlier toll.

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Report: U.S. in Talks with Israel over Possible Attack on Syria Arms Facilities

U.S. defense officials have held talks with their Israeli counterparts over whether Israel might strike at Syria's weapons facilities as its regime faces possible collapse, the New York Times reported.

The Times on Wednesday cited officials as saying that the Pentagon is not advocating military action because it feels that such an attack would help Syrian President Bashar Assad rally support against foreign intervention.

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