Damascus struck by two suicide bombings.

BBC - Suicide bombers hit two security service bases in Damascus on Friday killing 30 people and wounding 55 others, state television reported, in the first attacks of their kind in a quarter of a century. 

The bombings in the heart of the capital came as an advance team was in the city to prepare the logistics for an Arab League observer mission to oversee a plan to end nine months of unrest that have killed more than 5 000 people, according to a UN toll.

"Several soldiers and a large number of civilians were killed in the two attacks carried out by suicide bombers in vehicles packed with explosives against bases of state security and another branch of the security services," state television said.

"Initial inquiries hold al-Qaeda responsibility," the television added, after Agence France-Presse correspondents heard two large explosions.

Witnesses said the bombers struck in the Kfar Suseh neighbourhood of Damascus. A car tried to ram its way into a state security compound while another car exploded in front of a security service building in the same area.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem has said he expects the Arab observers to vindicate his government's contention that the unrest is the work of "armed terrorists", not overwhelmingly peaceful protesters as maintained by Western governments and human rights watchdogs.