Syria Rebels Claim Responsibility for Hotel Blast

The Syrian government has labelled it a terrorist attack

A massive bomb blast on Wednesday rocked the heart of Damascus near the hotel used by the UN observer mission in Syria, in an attack claimed by the rebel Free Syrian Army.

The blast, which tore a huge hole out of a petrol tanker near the Dama Rose hotel, wounded at least five people, a military source at the scene said, while Syria's deputy foreign minister said UN staff were unscathed.