13 February 2008 - 00H37

Car bomb explodes near Iranian school in Damascus
A car bomb exploded near an Iranian school in the Syrian capital of Damascus killing one person and injuring two others, witnesses told Reuters news agency

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DAMASCUS, Feb 12 (Reuters) - A bomb destroyed a car in a 
residential area of the Syrian capital of Damascus on Tuesday,
witnesses said, but it was not immediately clear if it caused
casualties.
 

Security officials at the scene refused to comment.
 

Witnesses saw a mangled white car being towed away by police
who cordoned off the area, which houses an Iranian school, a
police station and a main Syrian intelligence office.
 

No further details were immediately available but the
witnesses and a Palestinian source in neighbouring Lebanon said
the blast was caused by a bomb planted inside the vehicle.
It was not clear what the target was.
 

Witnesses said some officials from the Palestinian Islamist
group Hamas were at the scene but there was no indication any of
its members had been the target.
 

Some Hamas officials, including leader Khaled Meshaal, are
exiled in Damascus. At least one mid-level Hamas official has
been killed in Damascus by a bomb attack in recent years.
 

Hamas blamed that attack on Israel.
 

Syria houses the leaders and headquarters of several other
militant Palestinian groups who reject any peace deal with
Israel.

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