Car explodes in "act of sabotage" in Damascus

DAMASCUS, Dec 13 (AFP) - A car belonging to a Palestinian exploded in a residential district of Damascus on Monday, in what the Syrian authorities said was an "act of sabotage."
Three passers-by were injured in the blast near a petrol station in the Mazzeh neighbourhood, a Syrian official was quoted as saying by the official SANA news agency. Witnesses said two other cars damaged.
"The car belonged to a Palestinian, which leads us to believe it was an act of sabotage by Palestinian brothers living in Syria," the official was reported as saying by SANA. An investigation was underway, the source said.
"The explosion happened shortly after the Palestinian's family got out of the car, which saved their lives," he added.
Police secured the area and removed the car after the explosion.
In September, a senior Palestinian militant with the hardline Islamist movement Hamas was killed in a car bombing in Damascus blamed on Israel.

12/13/2004 16:28 GMT - AFP