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Damascus car bomber 'from neighbouring country'

29/09/2008

The suicide bomber who killed 17 people in Damascus this weekend entered Syria from a neighbouring Arab country, state media claimed on Monday.

But the Sana news agency did not specify which of Lebanon, Iraq or Jordan investigators were referring to.

Counterterrorism officers believe the bomber, who detonated a car bomb laden with 200kg of explosives on Saturday, belonged to extremist Sunni Muslim organisation Takfir.

"Investigations showed that a terrorist was driving the car and blew himself up and the car.

"Confirmation of his identity is under way via a DNA examination of the remains of his corpse," Sana said.

Several members of Takfir, which advocates the killing of non-believers, have been arrested following the blast, although no group has claimed responsibility for it.

The attack in the southern outskirts of the capital, the largest to strike Syria for two decades, has been condemned by the country's president Bashar al-Assad.

Last week Mr al-Assad said "extremist forces" operating in northern Lebanon were attempting to destabilise his regime, leading to a build-up of Syrian troops on the border.