a couple of VIPs are no longer

I did not know Shi'as have holy sites in Syria! Can one elaborate on this?

How much dynamite was in the tire?

that you don't inflate tires to 10,000 psi!!! That's what happens when a culture that has never invented anything (except the exploding bomb-vest) tries to do something slightly difficult- like inflating a tire.

has lots to HIDE. do not trust a word that she says. the leaders are all double sided and the people that back them the same. we CANNOT trust them. have we not learned form the past?????????

The Syrians have held peace talks with Israel while strengthening ties to Iran, the Jewish state’s greatest enemy. They are trying to improve relations with the West and maintain what some describe as heavy influence in Lebanon, contrary to the demands of the United States and France. Recently, Syria’s Shiite-dominated allies in Lebanon won several political victories, angering Sunni militants who consider the secular government of Syrian President Bashar Assad an enemy. Do you know the regime of the Assad family ? Consult : http://xrl.us/bjcsd

There's a Shia Mosque there and a shrine for Sayyeda Zainab, Mohammed's daughter or granddaughter. http://bloggingthecasbah.blogspot.com/2009/08/sayeda-zainab-damascus-syria.html

IF THIS WAS THE DEED OF ISRAEL, SYRIA WOULD NOT LIE ABOUT IT. SYRIA DO NOT WANT THE SUNNI-MUSLIM GAIN PUBLICITY, AGAINST SYRIAS INTERESSTS WITH SHIA-MUSLIM IRAN. SUNNI AND SHIA ISLAM IS BITTER ENEMIES. Arn-Orao.

There are many Shiite holy sites in Damascus, including the two great shrines of Sayyida Zeinab and Sitt Ruqiyya. As well as these the Bab Jdid area has many important Shiite tombs of the martyrs. It has been a well-known phenomenon now for years that thousands of Iranian pilgrims (without your quotation marks!) make the trip to Damascus - such a phenomenon that many Damascus shop-keepers can speak rudimentary Farsi.

http://al-akhbar.com/ar/node/167808 If you look at the photo from inside the bus in this article, it looks like very few were killed. It is unlikely a terrorist would target an empty bus. in any case, the idea that 40-50 people were on board is absurd.

Syria joined Hizbullah to blame Israel for Imad's death even though Syria's own investigation pointed to Syrian and "Palestinian" (no surprise there) elements, and NO tie to Israel. When Arabs get scared or upset that their vision of the world is not exactly as they want, they produce conspiracy theories and scape-goats. Why wouldn't Syria continue the tradition of lying to cover the truth? They have a willing audience of lemmings.

You assume that Syrian officials allowed journalists and photographers open access to the bus immediately after the incident. If Syria is trying to conceal something, they would try to make their story look believable by removing damage/bodies.

One of the things the population of Syria doesn't let their government get away with, is reporting family members alive when they are actually dead. My guess is the bus had very few passengers, maybe just the driver, as it was being used to smuggle explosives to Lebanon or the West Bank, and some of the explosives detonated prematurely.