Assad Attends Prayers in Damascus Mosque amid Denial of Motorcade Attack

Syria took the rare step of denying reports of an attack on President Bashar Assad's motorcade as he drove to a Damascus mosque on Thursday for prayers marking Muslim holidays.

It was the first report of a direct attack on the embattled leader since the March 2011 outbreak of the anti-regime revolt in Syria.

Several media outlets, including Saudi-based Al-Arabiya television, and opponents on the ground said a rocket and mortar attack targeted Assad's motorcade.

They said the convoy had been headed to Anas bin Malik mosque in central Damascus for Eid al-Fitr prayers marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.

"Regarding the information reported by Al-Arabiya, I can assure you that it is completely false," Information Minister Omran al-Zohbi told state television.

"The president arrived at the mosque driving his own car, he attended the prayer and greeted everyone in the mosque as he does every day when he meets people.

"Everything is normal," Zohbi added. "They wanted to spoil the celebrations for Syrians."

Regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia is a strong supporter of the Sunni-led rebels seeking to oust Assad who belongs to the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

Since the start of the anti-Assad uprising, Syria's regime has consistently dismissed the armed opposition as foreign-backed "terrorists."

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights could not confirm the reported rocket attack, but said mortar rounds hit the upmarket Malki area in central Damascus, near where Assad was attending Eid prayers and where his offices are.

At least two Islamist rebel groups later claimed via Facebook to have attacked Assad's convoy.

"Liwa al-Islam used rocket fire to target the convoy, while other rebel groups used mortars," Liwa al-Islam spokesman Islam Alloush told Agence France Presse via the Internet.

State television showed Assad sitting with other dignitaries, appearing relaxed and smiling during the morning prayer.

He has rarely appeared in public since the start of the conflict.

Opposition chief Ahmed Jarba, meanwhile, visited Daraa in southern Syria near the Jordanian border to mark Eid, a National Coalition source told AFP.

The Syrian Observatory, which compiles its information from activists and medics, said on Thursday that the conflict had claimed at least 4,420 lives during Ramadan.