Syria: Damascus “Suicide Attack” and State TV Fabrications · Global Voices
Leila Nachawati Rego

This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011/12.
As massive demonstrations take place all over the country demanding the end of Syrian president Bashar Al Assad's regime,  Syrian state TV reported a suicide bombing in the Midan neighborhood of Damascus on Friday, January 6.
International media have quoted Syrian state TV saying “immediate information indicates that a suicide terrorist blew himself up at a traffic light in the Midan neighbourhood,” but regardless of who is responsible for the attack some of the images circulated online show clear evidence of fabrication.
On this video that shows what is allegedly the crime scene, a person holding a microphone is suddenly seen on camera placing plastic bags beside a patch of blood on the ground.  What is a reporter for Syrian TV doing moving stuff around at a crime scene? The way the presenter becomes speechless when she notices is priceless:
This next video shows what are allegedly the first images of the attack. The text below the images says “We apologize for the ugly scenes” as the camera shows corpses, people screaming and a man saying “See? This is the freedom they want”. But what's shocking about the video appears during the last seconds: Two men from the security service hug, one apparently wounded, when they suddenly separate with a “we're done filming, right?” gesture.
Fabrication is not new in a country where the government owns the media and bans international journalists. Two weeks ago the Syrian government blamed a similar bombing on Al-Qaeda, including a fake statement and website which initially fooled international media to report the story of the Muslim Brotherhood claiming responsibility for the bombings. Syrian blogger Anas Qtiesh wrote a post about the findings that clearly show that the fake statement and website were easily traced back to regime affiliates.
@Farrouha91 tweets:
Ironic how pro-Assad Lebanese rush to report when explosions happen (accusing the protesters), but never report the daily killings. Why? #syria
@arwamenla adds:
#300DaysLater and Addounia TV still fails at fabricating lies about #Syria
As the regime is more and more desperate for legitimacy, we will probably keep witnessing more desperate attempts to draw attention from the Syrian people's struggle for freedom and justice.
This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011/12.