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| Assad at the Damascus mosque on Sunday. (Reuters) |
Beitur, Aug. 19 (AP): Syrian President Bashar al-Assad today attended prayers in a Damascus mosque to mark the start of a Muslim holiday, his first appearance in public since a bombing last month killed four of his top security officials.
Elsewhere, thousands staged anti-government protests in mosques and cemeteries following special prayers marking Id-ul-Fitr, the three-day holiday that ends the holy fasting month of Ramazan.
An amateur video posted on the Internet showed a group of worshippers in a mosque at al-Zahera district in Damascus shouting: “There is no God but Allah” and “Assad is the enemy of God.”
Syrian state TV broadcast footage showed Assad praying at the city’s Rihab al-Hamad mosque, a relatively small mosque in al-Muhajireen district, a few 100m from the presidential palace.
Residents of Damascus said security forces blocked streets and encircled several central mosques in the capital from yesterday evening, possibly to confuse people about where Assad would attend the traditional holiday prayers.
Unlike previous years, Assad was not shown arriving or leaving in his convoy. He was pictured seated cross-legged on the mosque floor, wearing a suit and tie, and later, standing and briefly shaking hands with officials before leaving.
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