Syrian Embassy in Moscow denies information about Bashar Assad’s death

On Monday, the Syrian Embassy in Moscow denied information about the death of Syrian President Bashar Assad, something that is currently being discussed by bloggers on social networking sites, TASS reported.

“The information is wrong,” an embassy spokesperson said, referring to allegations about Assad’s death tweeted by an unidentified Russian media outlet.

Internet users were quick to react by posting the breaking news on their blogs.

The Syrian President was rumored to have been shot Saturday, according to Arab and Israeli media reports. The rumor spread like wildfire on social media websites, Facebook and Twitter.

Arab media said Assad was allegedly shot by one of his Iranian bodyguards Saturday night and was in serious condition. He was supposedly transferred to Al-Shami Hospital in Damascus, where surrounding roads were closed off as roads and buildings surrounding the location were firmly seized by the Syrian army.

According to Arab media www.eltira.org , Bashar al-Assad was seriously wounded by gunfire on March 23 by his bodyguard. Arab media also went on to say that he was “hospitalized, between life and death". The arab press quickle spread the information wich was later republished bu the Israeli press. Israel News One’s website even reported that Assad had been “assassinated.”
Later the online news updates said the Syrian leader’s shooting was false and that Assad was alive and in high spirits.

“News about Bashar al-Assad being shot dead by his Iranian bodyguard have not been confirmed yet,” the magazine said, revealing that the opposition’s Free Syrian Army has denied such reports.

“It’s not true. Definitely it’s not. The first one to bring this news was an Israeli [website] so it’s a shame to all the news channels, newspapers and websites copying this thing without any source. Just the Israeli website brought this news and all the channels [used]. So it’s ridiculous. And he [Assad] doesn’t have an Iranian bodyguard,” a source close to the Syrian government siad.
Social media websites like Facebook and Twitter have widely been blamed for the rumor spreading so quickly.