‘Top pro-regime cleric killed’ in Syria blast

A suicide bomber has blown himself up inside a mosque in central Damascus, killing Dr Mohammed Saeed Ramadan al-Bouti, a senior pro-regime Sunni cleric and longtime supporter of President Bashar al-Assad, state television has said.
Al-Bouti, a respected religious scholar and Imam of Damascus’s historic Ummayyad Mosque, was killed in the explosion in the Iman Mosque in the central Mezzeh district, the state TV said on Thursday.

“Senior cleric Dr Mohammed Saeed Ramadan al-Bouti was martyred in a terrorist suicide attack at the Iman Mosque,” the station said.

Syrian TV didn’t give more details but said the explosion caused multiple casualties. It occurred at a time the mosque would have been packed with worshippers for Friday evening prayers.

TV footage showed wounded people and bodies with severed limbs on the blood-stained floor of the mosque.

Sirens echoed in the capital as ambulances rushed to the scene of the explosion, which was sealed off by the military.

Al-Bouti’s death is a big blow to Syria’s embattled leader, who is fighting mainly Sunni rebels seeking his ouster.

Al-Bouti has been a vocal supporter of his regime since the early days of his father and predecessor, the late President Hafez Assad.

In recent months, Syrian TV has carried his sermon from mosques in Damascus live every week. He also has a regular religious TV programme.

Source: agencies