Rebels penetrated the heart of Syria's power elite, detonating a bomb inside a crisis meeting in Damascus that killed three leaders of the regime, including President Bashar Assad's brother-in-law and the Defence Minister Dawoud Rajha.

Syrian security forces clashed with gunmen today in an upmarket area of the capital Damascus that is home to embassies and senior officials.

As the wife of a dictator held responsible for the slaughter of his people, Asma al Assad finds herself in the shadows, writes Christopher Dickey

Syrian president Bashar Assad replaced his defence minister with the army chief of staff in the midst of a brutal military crackdown on a five-month-old uprising, the state-run news agency said.

High Court ruling may determine the next move