Smoke rises from buildings in Homs, Syria (AP/Shaam News Network via AP video)
Foreign Secretary William Hague warned the situation in Syria is 'clearly deteriorating'
Free Syrian Army soldiers chant slogans in Idlib province, northern Syria (AP)
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has hit out at 'blackmail' over attempts to gain a new UN resolution over Syria (AP)
President Bashar Assad has come under repeated pressure as the killings in Syria continue
A draft resolution from Russia to the UN Security Council on Syria incorporates recommendations from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Free Syrian Army soldiers in the northern town of Sarmada, in Idlib province, Syria (AP/Shaam News Network)
Human Rights Watch interviewed more than 200 people since anti-government demonstrations started in Syria last year (AP)
Smoke rises from buildings following purported shelling in Homs, Syria. (AP/Shaam News Network)
Turkish coastguard search for the Turkish warplane which was downed by Syria on Friday (AP)
Girls walk by the rubble of a house which was destroyed in the town of Taftanaz, Syria (AP/Khalil Hamra)
A shell is seen in a street at a residential area of Talbisah in Homs city in Syria (AP/UN)
An image mad from amateur video shows black smoke rising from buildings in Homs, Syria (AP)
Free Syrian Army fighters swim in a pool on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, Tuesday, June 12, 2012. On Tuesday, Syrian forces pelted the eastern city of Deir el-Zour with mortars as anti-government protesters were dispersing before dawn Tuesday, killing several people, activists said. The offensives were part of an escalation of violence in recent weeks that has brought more international pressure on President Bashar Assad's regime faces over its brutal tactics against the opposition. The U.N. accused the government of using children as human shields in a new report. (AP Photo)
In this image made from amateur video released by Shaam News Network and accessed Monday, June 11, 2012, purports to show smoke near a mosque from Syrian government forces shelling in Rastan town in Homs province, Syria. Syrian troops attacked a central, rebel-held town with helicopter gunships Monday and shelled other restive areas across the nation, activists said. The aerial assault targeted the strategic river crossing town of Rastan, which has resisted repeated government offensives for months, the activists said. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video) TV OUT, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL
This citizen journalism image released by Sham News Network taken on Saturday June 9, 2012, purports to show anti-Syrian regime mourners carrying the coffins of Syrian citizens killed in shelling by Syrian troops, in Daraa, Syria. According to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, tens died in heavy pre-dawn shelling on Saturday in Daraa, where the uprising against Assad began in March 2011. (AP Photo) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS CITIZEN JOURNALIST IMAGE
This citizen journalism image released by Sham News Network taken on Saturday June 9, 2012, purports to show anti-Syrian regime mourners raising their hands as they carry the coffins of Syrian citizens killed by Syrian troops, in Daraa, Syria. According to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, tens died in heavy pre-dawn shelling on Saturday in Daraa, where the uprising against Assad began in March 2011. (AP Photo) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS CITIZEN JOURNALIST IMAGE
In this image made available on Tuesday June 12, 2012 smoke rises from a residential area of Talbisah in Homs city Syria Saturday June 9, 2012. (AP Photo/David Manyua/United Nations )
This video image taken from amateur video and broadcast by Bambuser/Homslive shows a series of devastating explosions rocking the central Syrian city of Homs, Syria, Monday, June 11, 2012. Live streaming video caught the devastation during one of the heaviest examples of violence since the uprisings began over a year ago. ( Photo/Bambuser/Homslive via AP video) MANDATORY CREDIT: BAMBUSER/HOMSLIVE
A shell is seen in a street at a residential area of Talbisah in Homs city Syria Monday June 11, 2012. (AP Photo/David Manyua/United Nations )
In this image made available on Tuesday June 12, 2012 smoke rises from a residential area of Talbisah in Homs city Syria Saturday June 9, 2012. (AP Photo/David Manyua/United Nations )
Free Syrian Army fighters sit in a house on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, Tuesday, June 12, 2012. On Tuesday, Syrian forces pelted the eastern city of Deir el-Zour with mortars as anti-government protesters were dispersing before dawn Tuesday, killing several people, activists said. The offensives were part of an escalation of violence in recent weeks that has brought more international pressure on President Bashar Assad's regime faces over its brutal tactics against the opposition. The U.N. accused the government of using children as human shields in a new report. (AP Photo)
This video image taken from amateur video and broadcast by Bambuser/Homslive shows a series of devastating explosions rocking the central Syrian city of Homs, Syria, Monday, June 11, 2012. Live streaming video caught the devastation during one of the heaviest examples of violence since the uprisings began over a year ago. (Photo/Bambuser/Homslive via AP video) MANDATORY CREDIT: BAMBUSER/HOMSLIVE
This video image taken from amateur video and broadcast by Bambuser/Homslive shows a series of devastating explosions rocking the central Syrian city of Homs, Syria, Monday, June 11, 2012. Live streaming video caught the devastation during one of the heaviest examples of violence since the uprisings began over a year ago. (Photo/Bambuser/Homslive via AP video) MANDATORY CREDIT: BAMBUSER/HOMSLIVE
Syrians look at a destroyed military tank at the northern town of Ariha, on the outskirts of Idlib, Syria
By Loveday Morris
– 20 July 2012
Rumours about the location of the royal couple were rife yesterday with unverified reports claiming that President Bashar al-Assad had fled to safety in the coastal province of Latakia while his glamorous British-born wife left for Russia.
Although the president made a brief appearance on state television yesterday to swear in his new Defence Minister, Fahad Jassim al-Freij, whose predecessor was killed in the Damascus blast that took out several top regime officials, state television did not say where or when the footage was filmed.
The president's first public appearance since the attack will, however, allay suspicions that the president was himself injured.
Opposition sources and a Western diplomat told Reuters that the president was directing the official response to the assassinations from Latakia, the heartland for the Alawite sect to which the ruling family belongs. The Assad clan hails from the provincial town of Qardaha which perches on a hill above Latakia city.
Assad's mother Anisa Makhlouf and his newly widowed sister Bushra travelled with the body of his brother-in-law Assef Shawkat to Latakia last night on a private jet, according to a Free Syrian Army source who said the group had "insiders" informing them of the ruling family's movements.
The same source said that Assad had been injured – but in an attack earlier on Wednesday and not the blast at the national security centre.
"The president was in Al Shaab Palace in Damascus and there was a warning at 3.30am and they decided to move him," the source said. "As they moved, the Free Syrian Army was striking the area with mortars and one hit the cars. He only had small injuries."
The Syrian ambassador to Moscow, Riyad Haddad, told Russian news agency Interfax that reports that the First Lady Asma al-Assad, had fled there were "completely false".
With information so murky, some speculated that the blast did not happen at all and instead was part of an elaborate regime hoax to cover up the fact that senior security officials were poisoned.
Salman Shaikh, a Syria analyst at the Brookings Doha centre, said he was "increasingly suspicious" about the events. "Assef Shawkat may well have been poisoned along with other members of security cell on 19 May in operation claimed by Kataba Sahaba," he said on social networking site Twitter. "It may well have been compelled to reveal the deaths to justify the massive killing operation it has launched to clean up Damascus."
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