U.S. Says Syria Bombings Must Not Impede Monitors

The suicide bombings which struck Damascus Friday killing 40 people must not hamper the Arab League monitoring mission in Syria, a U.S. official said Friday, condemning the attacks.

"It is crucial that today's attack not impede the critical work of the Arab League monitoring mission to document and deter human rights abuses with the goal of protecting civilians," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.

"We hope that this mission will proceed unfettered in an atmosphere of non-violence," he added in a statement.

Suicide bombers hit two security service bases in the Syrian capital Friday, killing 40 people and casting a pall over the first day of work of an Arab observer mission intended to oversee an end to nine months of bloodshed.

The bombings, which officials blamed on al-Qaida, were the first attacks against Syria's powerful security services in the heart of the capital since the uprising began against President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

"The United States condemns in the strongest terms the bombings today in Damascus," Toner said, adding "we extend our sympathies to the families of the victims. There is no justification for terrorism of any kind and we condemn these acts wherever they occur."

"The burden is on the regime to cooperate fully and quickly with the monitoring mission," he insisted.

Toner added that "the Syrian people continue to suffer daily. They deserve a peaceful political transition that begins with respect of their human rights and an immediate end to repression."

He also charged that: "For nine long months the Assad regime has used torture and violence to suppress the aspiration of the Syrian people for peaceful political change."