Syria suicide bombing foiled

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State television says Syrian forces have foiled an attempted suicide car bombing in the northern city of Aleppo involving 1, 200 kilogrammes of explosives.

The would-be bomber was killed in the al Shaar district of Syria's largest city which, like other areas, has seen increasing street protests against President Bashar al-Assad and rising levels of bloodshed after months of relative calm.

The latest plot was thwarted on Friday (May 11) a day after two bombs in the capital, Damascus, killed at least 55 people and wounded more than 300.

The attacks were the deadliest since the uprising against Assad erupted 14 months ago.

In a separate incident a group of people attacked a convoy of United Nations ceasefire monitors during a field visit in a suburb of Damascus, according to Syrian state TV.

The broadcaster said the monitoring team's vehicles were pelted with stones and sprayed with insulting messages.