Syrian journalist dies of wounds: report

6 Jan 2013, 9:41 am   -   Source: AAP

Syrian state media report that a journalist for the Dunya TV station has died of wounds sustained in a shooting attack in the suburbs of Damascus.

A Syrian journalist for a pro-government television station has died of wounds sustained in a shooting attack in the suburbs of Damascus, state media reports say, as rebels press on with an offensive to try to take the capital.

Rebels have frequently targeted pro-government reporters as well as officials and state institutions such as ministries, in addition to attacks on military, intelligence and security facilities.

The state-run SANA agency said that Suheil al-Ali of the private, pro-regime Dunya TV died on Friday, four days after a "terrorist" fired on him as he was returning home from work.

Fighting has raged for weeks in neighbourhoods and towns around Damascus that have been opposition strongholds since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011.

Rebels have assassinated regime figures in the past, most dramatically in July when they detonated explosives inside one of the regime's crisis meetings in Damascus, killing four officials including Assad's brother-in-law and the defence minister.

Most recently, the country's interior minister, Mohammed al-Shaar, was injured in a suicide bombing that targeted his ministry in Damascus last month.

After the December 12 attack, al-Shaar was secretly brought to neighbouring Lebanon for treatment of a back injury, but was rushed out of a Beirut hospital and back home on December 26 for fear of being arrested by Lebanese authorities.

On Saturday, SANA denied reports of al-Shaar's death, saying that the minister is "in good health and recovering".

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