Damascus on Sunday denied accusations it was behind the twin car bomb attacks.

"Syria did not commit and would never commit such an act because our values would not allow that," Information Minister Omran al-Zohbi said at a news conference broadcast by state television.

"It is (Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip) Erdogan who should be asked about this act ... He and his party bear direct responsibility," he added.

French President Francois Hollande condemned the attacks "in the strongest possible terms" while UN leader Ban Ki-moon said the perpetrators must be "brought to justice".

US Secretary of State John Kerry also condemned the "awful news" and said it struck "an especially personal note for all of us, given how closely we work in partnership with Turkey and how many times Turkey's been a vital interlocutor at the center of my work as secretary of state these last three months".

AFP

(China Daily 05/13/2013 page12)