Car bomb in Damascus kills 17 civilians, wounds 14 (2nd Lead)

Damascus - A car bomb in the Syrian capital Damascus killed at least 17 civilians and wounded 14 other persons Saturday morning in an attack which the government condemned as a 'cowardly act.' In this image taken from Syrian TV the scene of a car bomb explosion is seen in Damascus, Syria, 27 September 2008. A car bomb in the Syrian capital Damascus killed at least 17 civilians and wounded 14 other people on 27 September morning in an attack, which the government condemned as a

In this image taken from Syrian TV the scene of a car bomb explosion is seen in Damascus, Syria, 27 September 2008. A car bomb in the Syrian capital Damascus killed at least 17 civilians and wounded 14 other people on 27 September morning in an attack, which the government condemned as a "cowardly act." EPA/SYRIAN TV/HANDOUT The Syrian news agency SANA said the bomb went off near the busy Sayyida Zainab district. Both SANA and Lebanese media reports said the car was rigged with 200 kilograms of explosives. 'This is a cowardly act and it took place in a crowded area, killing 17 and wounding 14,' Syrian Interior Minister Colonel Bassam Abdel Majid told Syrian television. He said an investigation had been launched to find the culprits. A Syrian witness at the scene told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the vehicle was immediately removed. Anti-terrorism experts were at the scene and had cut all roads leading to the area, the witness said. The bomb is believed to have exploded near a secret service facility on a street on the outskirts of the district. It was not immediately known whether any secret service agents in civilian dress were among those killed and injured. The blast was so strong that it was heard in neighbourhoods around the city far from the scene. The Sayyida Zainab mosque, dedicated to a granddaughter of the Prophet Mohammed, is located in the area and is visited by Shiite pilgrims, many of whom travel to Syria from Iran. In recent years, many Shiite refugees from Iraq have settled near the mosque, which is close to the road to the city's international airport. The last large blast in Damascus occurred in February, when Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyah was killed. The Lebanese militant had been sought by the United States as a dangerous terrorist. The US and Israel charge Syria with supporting Hezbollah and radical Palestinian groups. In contrast to such neighbours as Lebanon and Iraq, bomb attacks are rare in Syria, with its extensive secret service network. Critics of President Bashar al-Assad have alleged after previous attacks that the secret service itself had orchestrated them in order to give the impression that Syria itself was threatened by Islamic terrorists. In recent weeks, the Iraqi government repeatedly stressed that Syria had changed its policies and was now making efforts to prevent the movement of terrorists into Iraq via the two countries' border.