Suicide bomber kills Syrian Defence Minister

Slain Syrian Defence Minister, Dawood Rajiha.

Syria's defense minister, Dawood Rajiha, was killed Wednesday in a suicide bombing at a national security building in Damascus, state-run media reported.

The bombing took place during a meeting of ministers and security officials, state-run TV said.

The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said initial reports indicate a car bomb caused an "intense explosion" in Damascus.

The explosion marks a pivotal point in the 16-month Syrian crisis and comes days after heavy violence reached the seat of President Bashar al-Assad's regime. Rajiha is the highest-ranking known member of the Syrian regime to be killed.

Chaos ensued elsewhere in Damascus when loud explosions and heavy gunfire echoed through the city, the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria said.

Meanwhile, in the besieged city of Homs, "regime forces have intensified the shelling by using helicopter gunships, artillery and mortars in the city," the LCC said.

By midday Wednesday, at least 15 people had been killed across the country, the opposition network said.

Halfway across the world, the U.N. Security Council could vote Wednesday on the fate of 300 U.N. monitors as a Friday deadline looms.

The observers' work has been largely curtailed due to relentless violence that has surged in recent weeks and has moved into the capital of Damascus.

Security Council diplomats in New York are wrangling this week over duelling draft resolutions on the Syrian crisis.

Western countries are pushing for a resolution that threatens sanctions against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime if government forces don't stop attacks. That draft also calls for renewing the U.N. observer mission for 45 days.

But throughout Syria's 16-month crisis, Russia has opposed any international effort that seeks to blame, punish or change the Syrian government. Russia -- along with China -- has vetoed two previous draft resolutions in the U.N. Security Council, leading to accusations that Russia is protecting the Syrian regime.

Russia, meanwhile, has put forth its own draft, which "strongly urges all parties in Syria to cease immediately all armed violence in all its forms." The Russian draft also calls for renewing the U.N. observer mission for three months.

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On Tuesday, British Foreign Secretary William Hague visited the Syrian-Jordan border and said his visit "brought home to me the full extent of the human tragedy unfolding in Syria."

He saw footage of al-Assad's forces "shooting at civilians fleeing over the border," Hague wrote on Facebook. "I met men and women who had walked for months to escape the fighting. I spoke to women from Homs, whose houses had been destroyed, their homes looted and members of their family killed.

"It left me in no doubt that the U.N. Security Council must pass an urgent Chapter VII resolution making possible globally-enforced sanctions if President Assad does not comply with Kofi Annan's peace plan. Our diplomats in New York are working urgently on this today."

Annan is the joint envoy to Syria for the United Nations and the Arab League.

He met Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

He called it "a very good discussion" about what to do to end the violence in Syria and bring about a political transition. "Obviously, the discussions in the Security Council regarding the resolution also came up," Annan told reporters after the meeting. "And I would hope that the council will continue its discussions and hopefully find language that will pull everybody together for us to move forward on this critical issue."

In New York, members of the Syrian National Council, a prominent political opposition group, told reporters that the Security Council must do more to protect people on the ground against escalating violence.

Bassma Kodmani said the SNC is ready to explore "other alternatives," including calling on regional powers, to help protect the Syrian people if the deadlock at the Security Council persists.

She further blamed the uncertainties and division of the international community over Syria for the opposition's inability to unify.

"If you want unity of one of voice of the Syrian opposition you will not get it, but if you want a joint position on what the objective is, I think we have it," she said.

The Syrian Government has since appointed General Fahd al-Furayj as new defence minister according to the Syrian State TV.