Dozens killed in Damascus car bombing

An official at his office, about 500 yards from the site of the explosion, said Hawatmeh was wounded in the hands and face from flying glass. He was taken to hospital and later released.

In a separate attack, Syrian state TV said mortar shells exploded near the Syrian Army General Command in central Damascus, causing no casualties. The station said the building was empty because it was under renovation.

The Britain-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said two mortar rounds struck near the building but did not report casualties.

On Wednesday, two mortar shells exploded next to a soccer stadium in Damascus, killing one player. The day before, two mortar shells blew up near one of Assad's three palaces in the city, causing only material damage.

Between the car bomb and the mortar attack near the army command, a security official reported another blast in the capital's northeastern Barzeh neighborhood. He had no other information and spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.

The Observatory, which relies on a network of anti-regime activists inside Syria, said two car bombs had exploded near security centers in Barzeh, followed by intense clashes between rebels and security forces.

Syrian state media also reported that security forces in Damascus had arrested a second, would-be suicide bomber driving a car full of explosives near the site of the Mazraa bombing.

Damascus has so far mostly avoided the large-scale violence that has destroyed other Syrian cities, though deadly car bombings have targeted government buildings in the capital.

In May 2012, twin car bombs exploded outside a military intelligence building, killing 55 people in the deadliest attack against a regime target in the capital since the uprising began 23 months ago.

And in July, rebels detonated explosives inside a high-level crisis meeting in Damascus that killed four top regime officials, including Assad's brother-in-law and the defense minister.

Following that attack, rebel groups who have established footholds in suburbs of the capital pushed in, clashing with government forces for more than a week before being routed and pushed out.

Since then, government jets have heavily bombed rebel-held suburbs and rebels have managed only small incursions on the city's south and east sides.

In the southern town of Daraa, where Syria's uprising began nearly two years ago, the Observatory said the 18 people killed in the airstrike included eight rebel fighters, three medics, one woman and one young girl.

Syria's conflict began in March 2011 with political protests against the government and has since evolved into a civil war between Assad's regime and hundreds of rebel groups seeking to topple it. The United Nations says some 70,000 people have been killed in the conflict so far.

International diplomacy has failed to slow the fighting.

On Thursday, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said his message to Assad is that "it is time to go."

He said the senseless killing must be brought to an end through a credible political process leading to a transition in Syria.

He also called on Assad to respond to a dialogue offer made recently by Syrian opposition chief Mouaz al-Khatib.

"A political settlement, a political agreement on a transition is the way forward in Syria to bring to an end this terrible and unacceptable loss of life."

Al-Khatib has said he is open to talks with the regime that could pave the way for Assad's departure, but that the Syrian leader must first release tens of thousands of detainees. The government has refused.

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