Rebel Free Syrian Army leader Riad Asaad lost a leg in a bomb attack on his car in eastern Syria, a group spokesman said.
The spokesman said Asaad, injured when a bomb exploded next to the car while he visited Deir al-Zour province Sunday, was in stable condition, the BBC reported.
Asaad was in a Turkish hospital, the report said.
The United Nations temporarily moved some of its international staff members working in Syria outside of the country because of security concerns, a U.N. spokesman said Monday.
Speaking at United Nations headquarters in New York, Martin Nesirky said a number of mortar shells fell on or near the grounds of the hotel in Damascus where U.N. personnel live.
"The United Nations Security Management Team has assessed the situation and decided to temporarily reduce the presence of international staff in Damascus due to security conditions. We are also exploring safer premises," Nesirky said.
The organization said there are about 100 international employees and 800 national employees in Damascus.
The United Nations estimated more than 70,000 people have been killed and more than 3 million displaced since the uprising against President Bashar Assad began in March 2011. About 1.1 million people have been forced to flee Syria.
No one had claimed responsibility for the attack on Asaad, which occurred several days after a video posted on YouTube showed him defending the al-Nusra Front and criticizing the main opposition coalition group
The United States designated the al-Nusra Front as a terrorist organization tied to al-Qaida but some rebels have said they have no problem fighting with the group against Syrian government forces.
"Nusra Front [fighters] are our brothers. They are 90 percent Syrians and the rest maybe from other Muslim countries," Asaad said in the video. "They haven't mistreated anyone in any way. We may have our own differences with them, but we respect them. Their mission is to serve the nation and the faith."
He also criticized the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, the main opposition umbrella organization, saying, "The regime keeps killing our innocent civilians while the [coalition] is staying in fancy hotels, begging the world for financial support."
Asaad, a former colonel in the Syrian Air Force who defected in 2011, said rebels made a "big mistake" allowing "politicians to take over and divide our ranks."
A statement posted on Facebook by former opposition leader Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib concerning the assassination attempt on Asaad spoke of "insidious schemes" against rebel leaders, The Guardian said in a blog on the events in Syria.
"The assassination attempt against Riad Asaad is an attempt to assassinate the free leaders of Syria," he wrote.
Khatib announced during the weekend he was resigning after an unproductive meeting with the European Union. He said he reached his limit following what he called two fruitless years of appealing to the international community for help in ending the nation's bloody civil war.
Khatib said on Facebook he planned to address an Arab League summit in Qatar this week, the BBC reported.
Nizar al-Haraki, the coalition's envoy in Doha, said Khatib would lead the opposition delegation that is filling Syria's seat at the meeting. Syria's membership was suspended in November 2011.
Analysts said Khatib's resignation clouds the future of the Syrian opposition coalition.
Salman Shaikh of the Doha Brookings Center told several media outlets he thought Khatib's resignation "signifies the beginning of the end of this coalition."
The spokesman said Asaad, injured when a bomb exploded next to the car while he visited Deir al-Zour province Sunday, was in stable condition, the BBC reported.
Asaad was in a Turkish hospital, the report said.
The United Nations temporarily moved some of its international staff members working in Syria outside of the country because of security concerns, a U.N. spokesman said Monday.
Speaking at United Nations headquarters in New York, Martin Nesirky said a number of mortar shells fell on or near the grounds of the hotel in Damascus where U.N. personnel live.
"The United Nations Security Management Team has assessed the situation and decided to temporarily reduce the presence of international staff in Damascus due to security conditions. We are also exploring safer premises," Nesirky said.
The organization said there are about 100 international employees and 800 national employees in Damascus.
The United Nations estimated more than 70,000 people have been killed and more than 3 million displaced since the uprising against President Bashar Assad began in March 2011. About 1.1 million people have been forced to flee Syria.
No one had claimed responsibility for the attack on Asaad, which occurred several days after a video posted on YouTube showed him defending the al-Nusra Front and criticizing the main opposition coalition group
The United States designated the al-Nusra Front as a terrorist organization tied to al-Qaida but some rebels have said they have no problem fighting with the group against Syrian government forces.
"Nusra Front [fighters] are our brothers. They are 90 percent Syrians and the rest maybe from other Muslim countries," Asaad said in the video. "They haven't mistreated anyone in any way. We may have our own differences with them, but we respect them. Their mission is to serve the nation and the faith."
He also criticized the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, the main opposition umbrella organization, saying, "The regime keeps killing our innocent civilians while the [coalition] is staying in fancy hotels, begging the world for financial support."
Asaad, a former colonel in the Syrian Air Force who defected in 2011, said rebels made a "big mistake" allowing "politicians to take over and divide our ranks."
A statement posted on Facebook by former opposition leader Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib concerning the assassination attempt on Asaad spoke of "insidious schemes" against rebel leaders, The Guardian said in a blog on the events in Syria.
"The assassination attempt against Riad Asaad is an attempt to assassinate the free leaders of Syria," he wrote.
Khatib announced during the weekend he was resigning after an unproductive meeting with the European Union. He said he reached his limit following what he called two fruitless years of appealing to the international community for help in ending the nation's bloody civil war.
Khatib said on Facebook he planned to address an Arab League summit in Qatar this week, the BBC reported.
Nizar al-Haraki, the coalition's envoy in Doha, said Khatib would lead the opposition delegation that is filling Syria's seat at the meeting. Syria's membership was suspended in November 2011.
Analysts said Khatib's resignation clouds the future of the Syrian opposition coalition.
Salman Shaikh of the Doha Brookings Center told several media outlets he thought Khatib's resignation "signifies the beginning of the end of this coalition."
Source : U.P
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