47 Iranian pilgrims abducted in Syria

BEIRUT -- Gunmen snatched 47 Iranian pilgrims just outside Damascus Saturday in a brazen attack that revealed the growing instability at the center of President Bashar Assad's power.

The abductions came as Syrian troops moved to crush one of the last rebel-dominated neighborhoods in the capital, shelling the area heavily. No group immediately claimed responsibility, although Iranian state media blamed the rebels fighting the Assad regime.

The pilgrims were on a bus taking them from the suburb of Sayeda Zeinab, about 10 miles south of Damascus, to the airport to return home when they were kidnapped, according to the Iranian state news agency, IRNA.

Mainly Shia Iran is a close ally of the beleaguered Syrian government, which is dominated by the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiism.

Syria has long welcomed Iranian pilgrims visiting the ornate gold-domed shrine of Sayeda Zeinab, the Prophet Muhammad's granddaughter; as many as 700,000 pilgrims used to come every year, IRNA said, although the number has fallen precipitously since the 17-month uprising that has killed an estimated 19,000.

Saturday, Iran's semiofficial Fars news agency announced that Syrian forces had freed the hostages, but cited no source. There was no confirmation from the Syrians.

Just a few miles from the site of the kidnappings, regime forces encircled the southern Damascus neighborhood of Tadamon, a bastion of rebel support. Heavy explosions shook the capital Saturday, and plumes of smoke rose from the neighborhood that was attacked by regime forces the previous night.

The kidnappings were the largest such abduction of Iranian pilgrims, although it was not the first.

In January, gunman kidnapped 11 Iranian pilgrims driving from the Turkish border to Damascus. At least two were later freed with Turkish mediation.

The new violence in Damascus reflected the regime's difficulty in keeping rebels down even at the center of its rule.

Two weeks ago, the government crushed the rebels' biggest-yet campaign in the capital city that included incursions by fighters into downtown neighborhoods and an audacious bomb attack that killed four members of Assad's inner circle.

The main battle, however, has now moved to Syria's largest city of Aleppo, some 215 miles north of Damascus, where rebels seized several neighborhoods two weeks ago and have proved difficult to dislodge.

Saturday, hundreds of rebels attacked the strategic television broadcast building and were driven off only after a three-hour battle in which the government resorted to jet fighters and helicopter gunships.

Clashes were also reported around the medieval citadel, a symbol of the city that dominates its ancient center, suggesting the rebels are trying to expand their hold.

Aleppo is Syria's commercial hub and close to the Turkish border where the rebels have their rear bases. If the opposition were to gain control, it would be a major blow to the regime and a possible opposition base of operations.