Syria PM survives bomb attack

ROUGH CUT - NO REPORTER NARRATION

Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halki survived a bomb attack on his convoy in Damascus on Monday, state media and activists said, as rebels struck in the heart of President Bashar al-Assad's capital.

The explosion shook the Mezze neighbourhood shortly after 9 a.m. (0600 GMT), sending a plume of thick black smoke into the sky, Internet footage posted by opposition activists showed.

Syrian TV later broadcast images of damaged and destroyed vehicles on a street in the Mezze neighbourhood and said there had been casualties.

An eyewitness told Syrian TV that a huge explosion took place just as the prime minister's car was passing by.

The Britain-based Syria Observatory for Human Rights, which has a network of sources across Syria, said one person accompanying the prime minister had been killed. State television mentioned casualties, but gave no details.