Assad in rare appearance, performs Eid prayers

Bashar al-Assad performs Eid al-Fitr prayers in Rihab al-Hamad Mosque in Damascus Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday appeared alongside several members of his government on a state TV channel, making a rare public showing as he performed Eid al-Fitr prayers in a Damascus mosque.
Unlike previous Eids, the embattled president did not pray in al-Amawi Grand Mosque. Instead, he and regime members chose to pray in a less grand Rihab al-Hamad Mosque.
The Local Coordination Committees activist network meanwhile reported clashes between Free Syrian Army rebels and Assad’s forces in the Qadam, Asali neighbourhoods of capital Damascus.
Observers said Assad possibly chose the Hamad mosque because it was a more secure venue as the president forces fight armed revolt in the capital and elsewhere in the country.
Rihab al-Hamad Mosque is closer to the Presidential Palace than the historic grand mosque, which is also surrounded by old-structures that could conceal opposition attackers.
Among the senior officials present for prayers were Syria’s Foreign Minister Waleed al-Muallim and Minister of Religious Endowments Abdul al-Sattar al-Sayid.
It was Assad’s first appearance in public after a bombing in the Syrian capital last month killed the country’s defence minister and three other top security officials.
Eid al-Fitr, a three-day religious occasion Muslims celebrate after the holy month of Ramadan, has not brought any halt of violence in Syria.
Activists reported on Sunday shelling of a mosque in al-Rustun city in Homs while worshippers were performing the early morning eid prayers.
The July 18 rebel bombing of the state-security headquarters in the capital was a major blow to Assad. His brother-in-law was among five officials killed in the attack.
The Syrian regime has suffered a series of other setbacks over the past month that point to a loosening of its grip on the country.
There has also been a steady stream of high-level defections by government officials, diplomats and generals, though Assad's inner circle and military have largely kept their cohesive stance behind him. And the regime has been unable to fully subdue rebel challenges in the two major cities, Damascus and Aleppo.
Assad’s appearance comes amid much speculation on the whereabouts of Vice President Farouq al-Sharie, who was said by some members of the Free Syrian Army to have defected to the opposition. On Saturday, his office denied the reports and said al-Sharaa “did not think, at any moment, of leaving the country.”
Al-Sharie did not appear in the footage at the mosque with Assad.
On Saturday, the LCC said Syrian security forces killed around 174 people across the country.
The 17-month-old conflict between Assad’s regime and the opposition trying to bring him down has left some 20,000 people dead, according to estimates by anti-Assad activists.