Football: Ghana end fairy-tale Cape Verde run in Africa Cup

PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa: Ghana halted the fairy-tale run of debutants Cape Verde in the Africa Cup of Nations with a 2-0 quarter-final win on Saturday.

Victory set up the Black Stars for a February 6 semi-final clash with the winners of Sunday's fixture between Burkina Faso and Togo in Nelspruit.

Substitute Mubarak Wakaso gave Ghana the lead in the 54th minute when he fired home a penalty after skipper Asamoah Gyan was fouled inside the box by Carlitos.

Wakaso doubled Ghana's advantage in stoppage time when he ran half the length of the pitch to slot home after Cape Verde committed every player, including goalkeeper Vozinha, upfield for a corner.

Wakaso's opening goal ignited the clash and in the 59th minute Ghana goalkeeper Fatawu Dauda denied Platini as he parried a goal-bound effort for a corner.

Cape Verde, who eliminated mighty Cameroon to reach the Nations Cup for the first time, pressed for an equaliser.

In the 82nd minute, Dauda pulled off the best save of the match when he dived full length to scramble away a goal-bound shot by substitute Djaniny.

Wakaso would have made the game safe for Ghana in the 85th minute, when he broke clear, but blasted his shot wide.

And in the 90th minute, Emmanuel Agyeman Badu was denied inside the Cape Verde box by desperate defending after Solomon Asante delivered a low cross from the right.

Man-of-the-match Dauda pulled off yet another top-class save when he scrambled to safety a last-ditch attempt by the Blue Sharks in additional time.

Ghana attacked from the onset, but it was the west African islanders who created the clearcut chances in the first half as the Black Stars found it difficult to get behind their defence.

Babanco fired from distance at the Ghana goal after just seven minutes, but missed the target as Cape Verde gradually got going with Ryan Mendes spearheading the attacking forays of the Blue Sharks.

In the 14th minute, Heldon could have given Cape Verde the lead, but blasted his shot from inside the box into the stand.

Minutes later, Dauda was forced to punch clear as Cape Verde swung a long, hopeful ball into the Ghana goal area.

Heldon, the match-winner against Angola in the final group match, again took off on a solo run in the 22nd minute, but his end-product missed the mark as the Blue Sharks began to enjoy more of the ball.

Dauda came to the rescue of the Black Stars in the 29th minute when he went down to gather a low drive delivered into the area as Cape Verde gained in confidence and surged forward.

- AFP/de

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Cabinet clears ordinance, makes anti-rape laws stricter

NEW DELHI: Rape that leads to death of the victim or leaving her in a vegetative state can now attract death penalty under an ordinance cleared by the Union Cabinet on Friday night in a bid to fast-track stringent amendments to the criminal laws to check crime against women.

The ordinance, based on the recommendations of the Justice J S Verma Committee and going beyond, proposes to replace the word 'rape' with 'sexual assault' to expand the definition of all types sexual crimes against women.

It also proposes enhanced punishment for other crimes against women like stalking, voyeurism, acid attacks, indecent gestures like words and inappropriate touch and brings into its ambit 'marital rape'.

The Union Cabinet, at a specially-convened meeting just three weeks ahead of the Budget Session of Parliament, went beyond the Verma Committee's recommendation by providing for capital punishment in the cases where rape leads to death of the victim or leaves her in "persistent vegetative state".

In such cases, the minimum punishment will be 20 years in jail which can be extended to the natural life of the convict or death, sources said, adding discretion will be with the court.

Being brought against the backdrop of the gang rape and brutal assault of a 23-year-old girl in Delhi in December, the ordinance entails changes in the criminal law by amending Indian Penal Code (IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Evidence Act.

The government will now recommend to President Pranab Mukherjee to promulgate the ordinance with immediate effect.

"We believe that this is a progressive piece of legislation and is consistent with felt sensitivities of the nation in the aftermath of outrageous gangrape in Delhi," law minister Ashwani Kumar said.

After the Delhi gan grape incident, which shocked the nation, there were vociferous demands for death penalty, but the Verma committee has not favoured it.

The government has rejected a recommendation of the Verma panel on Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act that no sanction would be required if the armed forces personnel are accused of a crime against woman.

In a bid to make the law women friendly, the ordinance suggests that only a woman police officer will take the statement of the victim of the sexual crime.

Women under 18 years will not be confronted with the accused but provision of cross examination has been retained.

There will be no personal appearance of witnesses before police officers.

The IPC allows the court to impose a lower sentence. The ordinance takes away the power of the court to lower the sentence.

Penalty in term of year in jail has been recommended for a government servant if he does not cooperate on sexual offence case or harms the process of law. The panel had recommended five years in jail.

While accepting the recommendation to record the statement by police officers of the person reporting the crime at his or her residence, the government has made optional suggestion to videograph the proceedings.

The ordinance says that if a person facing acid attack kills the accused in the process of self-defence, then she will be protected under the 'right to self defence'.

Compensation for acid attack victims "adequate to meet at least the medical expenses incurred" by her has not been accepted by the government.

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Hedgehog Alert! Prickly pets can carry salmonella

NEW YORK (AP) — Add those cute little hedgehogs to the list of pets that can make you sick.

In the last year, 20 people were infected by a rare but dangerous form of salmonella bacteria, and one person died in January. The illnesses were linked to contact with hedgehogs kept as pets, according to a report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Health officials on Thursday say such cases seem to be increasing.

The CDC recommends thoroughly washing your hands after handling hedgehogs and cleaning pet cages and other equipment outside.

Other pets that carry the salmonella bug are frogs, toads, turtles, snakes, lizards, chicks and ducklings.

Seven of the hedgehog illnesses were in Washington state, including the death — an elderly man from Spokane County who died in January. The other cases were in Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Oregon.

In years past, only one or two illnesses from this salmonella strain have been reported annually, but the numbers rose to 14 in 2011, 18 last year, and two so far this year.

Children younger than five and the elderly are considered at highest risk for severe illness, CDC officials said.

Hedgehogs are small, insect-eating mammals with a coat of stiff quills. In nature, they sometimes live under hedges and defend themselves by rolling up into a spiky ball.

The critters linked to recent illnesses were purchased from various breeders, many of them licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, CDC officials said. Hedgehogs are native to Western Europe, New Zealand and some other parts of the world, but are bred in the United States.

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Online:

CDC report: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr

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Ala. Hostage Suspect Had Court Date Scheduled

The retired Alabama trucker who shot a school bus driver and is now holding a kindergarten student in an underground bunker was scheduled to be in court Wednesday to answer for allegedly shooting at his neighbors in a dispute over a damaged speed bump.

Jimmy Lee Dykes, 65, has been holed up in a 6 by 8 foot bunker 4 feet underground with a 5-year-old autistic boy named Ethan since Tuesday, when he boarded a school bus and asked for two 6 to 8 year old boys. School bus driver Charles Albert Poland Jr., 66, was shot several times by Dykes, and died trying to protect the children.

Police said that they do not think that Dykes had any connection to Ethan, and that SWAT teams and police are negotiating with Dykes.

"I could tell you that negotiators continue to communicate with the suspect and that there's no reason to believe the child has been harmed," Sheriff Wally Olson said late Thursday.

PHOTOS: Worst Hostage Situations

Dykes' neighbor Claudia Davis told The Associated Press that he had yelled at her and fired his gun at her, her son James Davis, Jr. and her baby grandson after he claimed their truck caused damage to a speed bump in the dirt road near his property. No one was hurt, but Davis, Jr. told the AP that he believes the shooting and kidnapping are connected to the scheduled court hearing.

Alabama Hostage Standoff: Boy, 5, Held Captive in Bunker Watch Video

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"I believe he thought I was going to be in court and he was going to get more charges than the menacing, which he deserved, and he had a bunch of stuff to hide and that's why he did it," he said.

This was not Dykes' only run-in with people in the neighborhood, where he had come to be known as a menacing figure. Neighbor Ronda Wilbur told the AP that Dykes beat her 120-pound dog with a lead pipe when it entered the side of the dirt rode his trailer sits on. Wilbur said her dog died a week later.

Early last year, two pit bulls belonging to neighbors Mike and Patricia Smith escaped and got into his yard. Patricia Smith said that Dykes threatened to shoot her children when they went to retrieve them.

Neighbor Ronda Wilbur said that Dykes would be seen on his property at all hours of the day.

"It could be 2 o'clock in the morning, it could be midnight. He was out there either digging or moving dirt," she said.

As the underground standoff moved into its fourth day, tensions grow in this small community near Midland City, Ala., which is now enveloped by SWAT teams and police.

"That's an innocent kid. Let him go back to his parents, he's crying for his parents and his grandparents and he does not know what's going on," Midland City Mayor Virgil Skipper told ABC News. "Let this kid go."

Neighbor Jimmy Davis said that he has seen the bunker where Dykes has been known to hunker down for up to eight days.

"He's got steps made out of cinder blocks going down to it, Davis said. "It's lined with those red bricks all in it."

Police say he may have enough supplies to last him weeks.

Former FBI profiler and ABC News consultant Brad Garrett said there's a distinct reason why authorities are keeping details about Dykes under wraps.

"One of reasons they are keeping negations closed and not releasing his picture, is to try to insulate the situation, so they don't have a situation where they don't have to deal with his anger and rage," he said.

Meanwhile, children are trying to understand why this happened to their friend

"He always comes up to my house to play," 10-year-old Trisha Beaty told ABC News. "I miss him. I miss him a lot."

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Suicide bomber kills guard at U.S. embassy in Turkey

ANKARA (Reuters) - A far-leftist suicide bomber killed a Turkish security guard at the U.S. embassy in Ankara on Friday, officials said, blowing open an entrance and sending debris flying through the air.

The attacker detonated explosives strapped to his body after entering an embassy gatehouse. The blast could be heard a mile away. A lower leg and other human remains lay on the street.

Interior Minister Muammer Guler said the bomber was a member of an illegal far-left group. The White House said the suicide attack was an "act of terror", but the motivation was unclear.

Islamist radicals, extreme left-wing groups, ultra-nationalists and Kurdish militants have all carried out attacks in Turkey in the past. There was no claim of responsibility.

"The suicide bomber was ripped apart and one or two citizens from the special security team passed away," said Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who was attending a ceremony in Istanbul when the blast happened.

"This event shows that we need to fight together everywhere in the world against these terrorist elements," he said.

Turkish media reports identified the bomber as Ecevit Sanli, a member of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) leftist group, who was involved in attacks on a police station and a military staff college in Istanbul in 1997.

The DHKP-C opposes what it sees as U.S. influence over Turkish foreign policy.

Turkey is a key U.S. ally in the Middle East with common interests ranging from energy security to counter-terrorism and has been one of the leading advocates of foreign intervention to end the conflict in neighboring Syria.

Around 400 U.S. soldiers have arrived in Turkey over the past few weeks to operate Patriot anti-missile batteries meant to defend against any spillover of Syria's civil war, part of a NATO deployment due to be fully operational in the coming days.

"HUGE EXPLOSION"

U.S. Ambassador Francis Ricciardone emerged through the main gate of the embassy, which is surrounded by high walls, shortly after the explosion to address reporters, flanked by a security detail as a Turkish police helicopter hovered overhead.

"We're very sad of course that we lost one of our Turkish guards at the gate," Ricciardone said, describing the victim as a "hero" and thanking Turkish authorities for a prompt response.

A U.S. national security source said U.S. officials believed the incident was a suicide bombing but said security measures had worked properly, in that the attacker was not able to get past the outer perimeter of the compound and neither the embassy buildings were damaged, nor were U.S. personnel injured.

It was the second attack on a U.S. mission in four months. On September 11, 2012, U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three American personnel were killed in an attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

The attack in Benghazi, blamed on al Qaeda-affiliated militants, sparked a political furore in Washington over accusations that U.S. missions were not adequately safeguarded.

A well-known Turkish journalist, Didem Tuncay, who was on her way in to the embassy to meet Ricciardone when the attack took place, was in a critical condition in hospital.

"It was a huge explosion. I was sitting in my shop when it happened. I saw what looked like a body part on the ground," said travel agent Kamiyar Barnos, whose shop window was shattered around 100 meters away from the blast.

OPPOSED TO U.S. INFLUENCE

The DHKP-C, deemed a terrorist organization by both the United States and Turkey, has been blamed for suicide attacks in the past, including one in 2001 that killed two police officers and a tourist in Istanbul's central Taksim Square.

Guler said the bomber could have been from the DHKP-C which has carried out a series of deadly attacks on police stations in the last six months, or a similar group.

The attack may have come in retaliation for an operation against the DHKP-C last month in which Turkish police detained 85 people. A court subsequently remanded 38 of them in custody over links to the group.

The U.S. consulate in Istanbul warned its citizens to be vigilant and to avoid large gatherings, while the British mission in Istanbul called on British businesses to tighten security after what it called a "suspected terrorist attack".

In 2008, Turkish gunmen with suspected links to al Qaeda, opened fire on the U.S. consulate in Istanbul, killing three Turkish policemen. The gunmen died in the subsequent firefight.

The most serious bombings in Turkey occurred in November 2003, when car bombs shattered two synagogues, killing 30 people and wounding 146. Part of the HSBC Bank headquarters was destroyed and the British consulate was damaged in two more explosions that killed 32 people less than a week later. Authorities said those attacks bore the hallmarks of al Qaeda.

(Additional reporting by Daren Butler and Ayla Jean Yackley in Istanbul, Mark Hosenball in Washington; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Jon Hemming)

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Cricket: Pakistan part-timers ruin Smith's historic day

JOHANNESBURG: Two part-time bowlers spoiled Graeme Smith's big day as South Africa were bowled out for 253 on the first day of the first Test against Pakistan at the Wanderers Stadium on Friday.

South Africa were dismissed after Smith, celebrating 100 Tests as captain and his 32nd birthday, won the toss and decided to bat in what were always likely to be challenging conditions on a pitch with pace and bounce.

Pakistan survived two overs at the end of the day, finishing on six for no wicket.

The South African batsmen did well enough against Pakistan's front line bowlers, but lost five wickets to part-timers Younis Khan and Mohammad Hafeez and another to a run-out.

Younis took only his eighth wicket in an 80-Test career to dismiss Hashim Amla with his third delivery of the match, while off-spinner Hafeez did even better, taking four for 16 after only being introduced in the 71st over.

Hafeez, who had taken 29 wickets in 29 Tests before Friday, had AB de Villiers caught behind off his first ball.

Remarkably, Hafeez was given the second new ball and struck again four balls later when Robin Peterson padded up and was bowled by a straight delivery.

He then had Dean Elgar caught behind playing down the legside and wrapped up the innings by bowling Morne Morkel.

The other four wickets fell in more conventional fashion, with opening bowlers Umar Gul and Junaid Khan taking two each.

South Africa's last five wickets fell for 21 runs.

"It was not the easiest pitch to score on," said South African batsman Faf du Plessis.

"There was movement for the seam bowlers and the ball was holding up a bit. For a day one pitch there was a lot happening out there. Looking at the cracks on the pitch there are good signs for us."

Hafeez gave credit to the other bowlers who he said had kept the pressure on the South African batsmen throughout the day.

"It was a team effort. We showed good discipline with the ball," he said.

Of the decision for him to bowl with the second new ball, Hafeez pointed out that he had often bowled with the new ball in one-day matches and occasionally in Test matches.

"There were some left-handers around so we decided to try a few balls and see what happened."

The build-up to the match was dominated by Smith's feat of becoming the first player in history to achieve 100 captaincies.

But he did not have long to dwell on the landmark as he and Alviro Petersen had to survive some accurate, hostile bowling from Junaid and Gul.

Smith and Petersen saw off the initial threat but a switch of ends brought the wickets of both openers.

The left-armed Junaid squared up Petersen and had him caught at third slip for 20 with the total on 46. Four balls later, without addition to the score, Smith was caught behind for 24 when he tried to work Gul to the leg side.

Jacques Kallis hit 50 in a third wicket stand of 79 with Amla before he mistimed a pull against Gul and fell to a superb diving catch by Asad Shafiq at deep midwicket.

With Junaid and Gul having had a heavy workload, Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq brought on Younis Khan to bowl his occasional medium-pacers.

Amla slashed hard at Younis' third ball and Azhar Ali took a blinding catch at gully, prompting joyous celebrations from the Pakistan players.

Kallis looked in fine form before his dismissal, hitting nine fours during a 78-ball innings, while Amla was content to play a supporting role.

Amla made 37 off 67 balls with six fours.

De Villiers and du Plessis put on 64 for the fifth wicket with watchful batting.

But De Villiers pushed at a straight ball from Hafeez to be caught behind by wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed for 31.

Du Plessis made 41 before he played a forward defensive stroke against Junaid and the ball bounced back off the pitch to hit his stumps.

Hafeez then made superb use of the new ball, while Pakistan were helped by a mix-up which led to the run-out of Vernon Philander.

- AFP/jc

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Lokpal Bill: What it now entails

NEW DELHI: Salient points of the new Lokpal Bill that was cleared on Thursday by the Union Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh:

* The Lokpal at the centre has been delinked from Lokayukta in the states.

* State government will have to enact a law for setting up Lokayukta within a year of the central government passing the Lokpal bill.

* The prime minister's office will be under the Lokpal, with some riders related to national security and external affairs.

* Officials facing a preliminary probe will be given a hearing.

* Lokpal will have no power to transfer Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials investigating a case referred by it.

* Director prosecution of the CBI will be selected by the chief vigilance commissioner.

* The selection panel for the Lokpal will comprise the prime minister, speaker and leader of opposition in Lok Sabha, Chief Justice of India and an eminent jurist.

* Prime minister, the leader of opposition in the lower house and the chief justice of India will select the CBI director.

* Charitable institutions aided by the government will come under Lokpal.

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Hedgehog Alert! Prickly pets can carry salmonella

NEW YORK (AP) — Add those cute little hedgehogs to the list of pets that can make you sick.

In the last year, 20 people were infected by a rare but dangerous form of salmonella bacteria, and one person died. Investigators say the illnesses were linked to contact with hedgehogs kept as pets.

Health officials on Thursday say such cases seem to be increasing.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends thoroughly washing your hands after handling hedgehogs. Also, clean pet cages and other equipment outside.

Other pets that carry the salmonella bug are frogs, toads, turtles, snakes, lizards, chicks and ducklings.

Seven of the hedgehog illnesses were in Washington state, including the death. The other cases were in Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Oregon.

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Online:

CDC report: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr

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Hagel, McCain Butt Heads at Confirmation Hearing

Facing a rocky confirmation process, Chuck Hagel today defended his record before his former Senate colleagues, including an openly impatient Sen. John McCain.

"I'm on the record on many issues, but no one individual vote, no one individual quote, no one individual statement defines me," Hagel said in his opening statement at his first confirmation hearing for secretary of defense.

"My overall worldview has never changed: that America has and must maintain the strongest military in the world, that we must lead in the international community to confront threats and challenges together," Hagel said.

Who Is Chuck Hagel? Obama's Nominee for Secretary of Defense

A Vietnam veteran and former Republican senator from Nebraska who left office in 2009, Hagel, 66, is president Obama's nominee to replace Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. Despite his 12-year career in the Senate, Hagel faces opposition from many of his former Republican colleagues.

In the hearing's testiest exchange, McCain grilled Hagel on the former senator's opposition to the Iraq "surge," a stance that separated Hagel from most members of his party in 2007.

The Arizona senator championed the "surge" both as a senator and in his 2008 presidential campaign, while Hagel joined Democrats in vocally criticizing the strategy. McCain pressed Hagel at today's hearing to say whether he believes the surge was a mistake.

When Hagel declined to answer "yes" or "no," McCain told his former colleague, "I want to know if you were right or wrong. That's a direct question," repeatedly accusing Hagel of refusing to answer the question.

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Obama Taps Sen. Chuck Hagel for Defense Secretary Watch Video

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"You're on the wrong side of it, and your refusal to answer whether you were right or wrong on it is going to have an impact on my judgment on whether to vote for your confirmation," McCain concluded

Hagel also underwent some tough, testy questioning from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., an ally of McCain's in the Senate. Graham pointed out Hagel's decision not to sign letters on Middle-East policy during his Senate career, at one point asking Hagel: "Do you think that the sum total of your record ... all that together, that the image you've created is one of sending the worst possible signal to our enemies and friends at one of the most critical times in world history?"

Hagel said he did not.

Senate Republicans and pro-Israel groups have voiced grievances with Hagel's record, including opposition to unilateral sanctions against Iran, support for talks with Hamas, opposition to deeming Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, and a reference to Israel-backing groups as the "Jewish lobby."

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., acknowledged such concerns as he opened the committee's hearing, referencing "troubling statements [Hagel] has made about Israel and its supporters in the United States."

Hagel defended himself under questioning from multiple senators.

"When I voted against some of those unilateral sanctions on Iran, it was a different time," Hagel said, referring to votes in the early 2000s. "We were in a different place with Iran at that time. As a matter of fact, the Bush administration did not want a five-year renewal of [the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act] at that time because they weren't sure of the effectiveness of the sanctions."

Hagel said his record of public statements shows he has consistently referred to Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist groups and Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism.

"The way I approached every vote I took in the Senate was what I thought would be the most effective," Hagel said, defending his vote against labeling Iran's guard corps as a terrorist group. "What was the situation at the time, how can we do this smarter and better?"

Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., the committee's top Republican, said he will oppose Hagel's nomination.

"Senator Hagel is a good man who has a record of service," Inhofe said of his former GOP colleague, while concluding, "He is the wrong person to lead the Pentagon.

Hagel was introduced at the hearing by former Sens. Sam Nunn, D-Ga., and John Warner, R-Va., two respected former members of the Armed Services Committee, both of whom lavished praise on Obama's nominee.

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Syria warns of "surprise" response to Israel attack

BEIRUT/AMMAN (Reuters) - Syria warned on Thursday of a possible "surprise" response to Israel's attack on its territory and Russia condemned the air strike as an unprovoked violation of international law.

Damascus could take "a surprise decision to respond to the aggression of the Israeli warplanes", Syrian ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul-Karim Ali said a day after Israel struck against Syria.

"Syria is engaged in defending its sovereignty and its land," Ali told a website of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Syria and Israel have fought several wars and in 2007 Israeli jets bombed a suspected Syrian nuclear site, without a military response from Damascus.

Diplomats, Syrian rebels and regional security sources said on Wednesday that Israeli jets had bombed a convoy near the Lebanese border, apparently hitting weapons destined for Hezbollah. Syria denied the reports, saying the target had been a military research center northwest of Damascus.

Hezbollah, which has supported Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as he battles an armed uprising in which 60,000 people have been killed, said Israel was trying to thwart Arab military power and vowed to stand by its ally.

"Hezbollah expresses its full solidarity with Syria's leadership, army and people," said the group which fought an inconclusive 34-day war with Israel in 2006.

Israel has remained silent on the attack and there has been little reaction from its Western backers, but Syria's allies in Moscow and Tehran were quick to denounce the strike.

Russia, which has blocked Western efforts to put pressure on Syria at the United Nations, said that any Israeli air strike would amount to unacceptable military interference.

"If this information is confirmed, then we are dealing with unprovoked attacks on targets on the territory of a sovereign country, which blatantly violates the U.N. Charter and is unacceptable, no matter the motives to justify it," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Iranian deputy foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdullahian said the attack "demonstrates the shared goals of terrorists and the Zionist regime", Fars news agency reported. Assad portrays the rebels fighting him as foreign-backed, Islamist terrorists, with the same agenda as Israel.

"It is necessary for the sides which take tough stances on Syria to now take serious steps and decisive stances against this aggression by Tel Aviv and uphold criteria for security in the region," Abdullahian said.

An aide to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that Iran would consider any attack on Syria as an attack on itself, but Abdullahian made no mention of retaliation.

Hezbollah said the attack showed that the conflict in Syria was part of a scheme "to destroy Syria and its army and foil its pivotal role in the resistance front (against Israel)".

BLASTS SHOOK DISTRICT

Details of Wednesday's strike remain sketchy and, in parts, contradictory. Syria said Israeli warplanes, flying low to avoid detection by radar, crossed into its airspace from Lebanon and struck the Jamraya military research centre.

But the diplomats and rebels said the jets hit a weapons convoy heading from Syria to Lebanon, apparently destined for Assad's ally Hezbollah, and the rebels said they - not Israel - hit Jamraya with mortars.

The force of the dawn attack shook the ground, waking nearby residents from their slumber with up to a dozen blasts, two sources in the area said.

"We were sleeping. Then we started hearing rockets hitting the complex and the ground started shaking and we ran into the basement," said a woman who lives adjacent to the Jamraya site.

The resident, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity over Israel's reported strike on Wednesday morning, said she could not tell whether the explosions which woke her were the result of an aerial strike.

Another source who has a relative working inside Jamraya reported that a building inside the complex had been cordoned off after the attack and that flames were seen rising from the area after the attack.

"It appears that there were about a dozen rockets that appeared to hit one building in the complex," the source, who also asked not to be identified, told Reuters. "The facility is closed today."

Israeli newspapers quoted foreign media on Thursday for reports on the attack. Journalists in Israel are required to submit articles on security and military issues to the censor, which has the power to block any publication of material it deems could compromise state security.

Syrian state television said two people were killed in the raid on Jamraya, which lies in the 25-km (15-mile) strip between Damascus and the Lebanese border. It described it as a scientific research centre "aimed at raising the level of resistance and self-defense".

Diplomatic sources from three countries told Reuters that chemical weapons were believed to be stored at Jamraya, and that it was possible that the convoy was near the large site when it came under attack. However, there was no suggestion that the vehicles themselves had been carrying chemical weapons.

"The target was a truck loaded with weapons, heading from Syria to Lebanon," said one Western diplomat, echoing others who said the convoy's load may have included anti-aircraft missiles or long-range rockets.

The raid followed warnings from Israel that it was ready to act to prevent the revolt against Assad leading to Syria's chemical weapons and modern rockets reaching either his Hezbollah allies or his Islamist enemies.

A regional security source said Israel's target was weaponry given by Assad's military to fellow Iranian ally Hezbollah.

"This episode boils down to a warning by Israel to Syria and Hezbollah not to engage in the transfer of sensitive weapons," the source said. "Assad knows his survival depends on his military capabilities and he would not want those capabilities neutralized by Israel - so the message is this kind of transfer is simply not worth it, neither for him nor Hezbollah."

Such a strike or strikes would fit Israel's policy of pre-emptive covert and overt action to curb Hezbollah and does not necessarily indicate a major escalation of the war in Syria. It does, however, indicate how the erosion of the Assad family's rule after 42 years is seen by Israel as posing a threat.

Israel this week echoed concerns in the United States about Syrian chemical weapons, but its officials say a more immediate worry is that the civil war could see weapons that are capable of denting its massive superiority in airpower and tanks reaching Hezbollah; the group fought Israel in 2006 and remains a more pressing threat than its Syrian and Iranian sponsors.

(Additional reporting by Mariam Karouny and Oliver Holmes in Beirut, Gabriela Baczynska in Moscow and Marcus George in Dubai; editing by David Stamp)

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