Al-Qaida might be joiningthe fight, officials contendBy ALBERT AJIThe Associated Press

DAMASCUS, Syria — Twosuicide bombers detonated carspacked with explosives in near-simultaneous attacks on heavilyguarded intelligence and securitybuildings in the Syrian capital Sat-urday, killing at least 27 people.

There have been a string oflarge-scale bombings against theregime in its stronghold of Dam-ascus that suggest a dangerous,wild-card element in the year-oldanti-government revolt. Theregime blamed the opposition,which denied having a role or thecapabilities to carry out such asophisticated attack. And afterother similar attacks, U.S. offi-cials suggested al-Qaida militantsmight be joining the fray.

The explosions struck the heav-ily fortified air force intelligencebuilding and the criminal securitydepartment, several miles apart inDamascus, at about the sametime, the Interior Ministry said.Much of the facade of the intelli-gence building appeared to havebeen ripped away. State-run newsagency SANA said a third blastwent off near a military bus at thePalestinian refugee campYarmouk in Damascus, killing thetwo suicide bombers.

“All our windows and doorsare blown out,” said MajedSeibiyah, 29, who lives in the areaof one of the blasts. “I was sleep-ing when I heard a sound like anearthquake. I didn’t grasp whatwas happening until I heardscreaming in the street.”

The first explosion at 7 a.m. tar-geted the air force intelligencebuilding in the residential districtof al-Qassaa, a predominantlyChristian area. It caused destruc-tion in a 100-yard radius, shatter-ing windows, blowing doors offtheir hinges and throwing chairsand other furniture off balconies.

State TV aired gruesomeimages of the scene, with mangledand charred corpses, bloodstainedstreets and twisted steel.

It carried interviews with thewounded in hospital.

“Is this the assistance promisedby Qatar and Saudi Arabia?”asked one of the injured.

The two Gulf powerhouseshave been fiercely critical of theSyrian government’s crackdownon dissent and have been dis-cussing military aid to the rebels.The U.N. says well over 8,000have died since the uprising began

a year ago, inspired by ArabSpring revolts across the MiddleEast and North Africa.

A string of previous blasts thatstruck the capital, also suicidebombings, have killed dozens ofpeople since December.

The government has blamedthe explosions on “terrorists” whoit claims are behind the uprising.The opposition has denied anyrole, saying they believe forcesloyal to the government arebehind the bombings in a plot totarnish the uprising.

But top U.S. intelligence offi-cials also have pointed to al-Qaidain Iraq as the likely culprit behindthe previous bombings, raising thepossibility its fighters are infiltrat-ing across the border to takeadvantage of the turmoil.

Al-Qaida’s leader called forPresident Bashar Assad’s ouster inFebruary.

A previously unknown Islamistgroup calling itself Al-Nusra Frontto Protect the Levant claimedresponsibility for the previousattacks in a video posted online,saying it carried them out “toavenge the people of Homs.”Homs is an opposition strongholdin central Syria that has been hard-hit in the government crackdown.

Al-Qaida’s involvement couldfurther fuel the sectarian tensionsthat the uprising has alreadystoked. Al-Qaida’s supporters arelargely Sunni Muslim extremists.

Syria’s military and politicalleadership is stacked heavily withmembers of the minority Alawitesect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam towhich Assad and the ruling elitebelong. The Alawite leaders ofSyria are allied with Shiite Iran.

Sunnis are the majority in thecountry of 22 million and makeup the backbone of the opposition.

A suspected al-Qaida presencecreates new obstacles for the U.S.,its Western allies and Arab statestrying to figure out a way to helppush Assad from power. If al-Qaida does interfere, it may alsorally Syrian religious minorities,fearful of Sunni radicalism, to getbehind the regime.

The blasts also raised questionsabout how suicide car bomberswere able to penetrate high-secu-rity areas in Damascus. Since thefirst suicide bombings struck thecapital in December, the govern-ment has taken exceptional mea-sures around state security andother government institutions andministries, putting up thick con-crete blast walls and checkpointsand guards checking drivers’ IDs.

Bassma Kodmani, a Paris-based member of the opposition

Syrian National Council, said shedoubted the armed groups tryingto bring Assad down by force,such as the rebel Free SyrianArmy, have the capacity to carryout such attacks on security insti-tutions in the capital.

“I don’t think any of the opposi-tion forces or the Free Syrian Armyhas the capacity to do such an oper-ation to target these buildingsbecause they are fortresses,” shesaid. “They are very well guarded.There is no way anyone can pene-trate them without having strongsupport and complicity from insidethe security apparatus.”

The Free Syrian Army, themost powerful armed oppositionforce, has appealed for the inter-national community to sendweapons to help it fight theregime, but so far, no countries areheeding the call. The U.S. andothers have not advocated armingthe rebels, in part out of fear itwould create an even more bloodyand prolonged battle.

Though the Syrian uprisingbegan as mostly peaceful protests,it has becoming increasingly mili-tarized, pushing the country to thebrink of civil war.

An Interior Ministry statementtied the latest explosions to “therecent escalation by regional andinternational parties, and theiropen calls for sending weapons toSyria.”

The attacks caused panic on thestreets. Shooting broke out soonafter the blasts and sent residentsand others who had gathered inthe area fleeing, an AssociatedPress reporter at the scene said.

The last major suicide bombingwas Feb. 10, when twin blastsstruck security compounds in thegovernment stronghold of Aleppoin northern Syria, killing 28 peo-ple. Damascus has seen three pre-vious suicide bombings sinceDecember, hitting intelligenceand security buildings.

The government uses the attackto reinforce its claim that this isnot a popular uprising, blamingforeign extremists and gangs try-ing to destroy the country.

In recent weeks, Syrian forceshave waged a series of heavyoffensives against the mainstrongholds of the opposition –Homs in the center, Idlib in thenorth and Daraa in the south.

The Local Coordination Com-mittees, a key activist group, said22 people were killed across thecountry Saturday.

Diplomatic efforts to solve thecrisis have brought no result. ButU.N. envoy Kofi Annan said Fri-day that he would return to Dam-ascus even though his recent visitand talks with Assad saw noprogress in attempts to cobbletogether negotiations.

By RAMI AL-SHAHEIBIThe Associated Press

TRIPOLI, Libya — Mauritaniaon Saturday arrested MoammarGadhafi’s former intelligencechief, who’s accused of attackingcivilians during the uprising inLibya last year and the 1989bombing of a French airliner.

The International CriminalCourt, France and Libya all saidthey want to prosecute Abdullahal-Senoussi.

Mauritania’s state informationagency said al-Senoussi wasarrested at the airport in the capi-tal, Nouakchott, upon arrival fromthe Moroccan city of Casablanca.It said he was carrying a fakeMalian passport.

A spokesman for Libya’s rulingNational Transitional Council,Mohammed al-Hareiz, confirmedthat the ex-intelligence chief hadbeen captured.

As Gadhafi’s regime crumbledin the second half of 2011 aftermore than four decades of rule,many of the dictator’s inner circlefled from advancing rebels towardthe Sahara, where the regime hadlong cultivated ties with desertgroups both in Libya and in neigh-boring countries.

A Libyan military official saidal-Senoussi, who is also Gadhafi’sbrother-in-law, likely fled to Chadjust before the opposition cap-tured Tripoli in October andpassed through Mali and Moroccobefore heading to Mauritania. Hespoke on condition of anonymitybecause he was not authorized todisclose the details.

Some Libyan officials reportedlast year that al-Senoussi had beencaptured and was being held in thesouthern city of Sabha. But somelater cast doubt on that assertion,

and his whereabouts have notbeen known – a reflection of theconfusion in post-Gadhafi Libya,where “revolutionary militias”hold local control in many townsand cities with little accountabilityto the Tripoli government.

In October, a Western diplo-matic official in Mali’s capital,Bamako, told The AssociatedPress that al-Senoussi was in Maliand that the French governmentwas taking the lead in hunting himdown.

Al-Hareiz said Libya isrequesting the former intelligencehead be handed over to Libya fortrial, but the line to prosecute al-Senoussi is long.

Judges at the Netherlands-based ICC issued an arrest war-rant for al-Senoussi last June ontwo counts of crimes againsthumanity – murder and persecu-tion – for allegedly mastermind-ing attacks on civilians in the earlydays of the uprising that eventual-ly toppled Gadhafi from power.

France also lobbied to get cus-tody of al-Senoussi. He was oneof six Libyans convicted in absen-tia and sentenced to life in prisonin France for the 1989 bombing ofa passenger jet that killed all 170people on board.

DAILY NEWS, BOWLING GREEN, KENTUCKYPAGE 16A - SUNDAY, MARCH 18, 2012 Nation/world

Come see us at Greenwood Mall, across from Victoria Secret

Bowling Green’s top choice for

LOW

MONTHLY

PAYMENTS!

ONE-DAY bath remodeling!

(866) 926-2284

270-782-7258 • www.hosparus.orgA NON-PROFIT HOSPICE ORGANIZATION.

Hosparus volunteers help with patient and family support, administrative duties, care for those who have lost a loved one and fundraising. Hosparus carefully selects volunteers and provides them with training designed to meet the needs of patients and families.

We will host our next volunteer training from 5 - 8 p.m. (CST) on Tuesday, March 27 and Thursday, March 29 at our Bowling Green office, 101 Riverwood Drive. Participants must attend both sessions to become a volunteer. Contact Tery Brunelle at 270-782-5258 or tbrunelle@hosparus.org to register by Friday, March 23.

are you… COVERED?

Call Kevin today to review your insurance coverage and secure your tomorrow.

As Independent Agents, we partner with carriers like Auto-Owners to offer you choices for your:

choices… You’ve got them at

PERSONAL • BUSINESS • LIFE

Kevin Sanson ~ (270) 781-2020

• Home • Auto

• Business

Gadhafi’s formerintelligence chiefwill face charges

Dario Lopez-Mills/APThen-Libyan intelligence chiefAbdullah al-Senoussi speaksAug. 21 in Tripoli, Libya.

SYRIA

Hussein Malla/APSyrian citizens who live in Lebanon wave the Syrian revolution flag Saturday as they shout slogans against Syrian President Bashar Assadduring a demonstration at Martyrs Square in Beirut, Lebanon.

Suicide blasts kill at least 27