Groups close to the regime in Syria were behind the twin car bombings in Turkey on Saturday which left at least 41 people dead and 100 injured, Turkish Interior Minister Muammer Guler said. Guler told national TRT television: "The people and the organisation who carried out this attack have been identified. We have established that they are linked to groups supporting the Syrian regime and its intelligence services." nc/vjf/ric

By Mariam Karouny BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels including the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front have counter-attacked east of Damascus to retake a town that served as a conduit for arms from Jordan into the capital before it was seized by government forces last month, rebel sources said. The rebels' struggle to end four decades of Assad family rule has been complicated in part by internal divisions along ideological and political lines, as well as a shortage of heavy weaponry that could decisively turn the tide of conflict.

A suicide bomber targeted the home of a senior Iraqi intelligence officer north of Baghdad on Saturday, killing three people, while four more died in other attacks, officials said. The bomber detonated a small tanker truck at the home of police Brigadier General Ismail al-Juburi, a senior officer for Nineveh province, killing his son, nephew and sister-in-law -- and wounding 21 others, police and a doctor said. Juburi was not present at the time of the attack, which took place in the Al-Sharqat area.

Preliminary surveys of Lebanese offshore fields show reserves of 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 660 million barrels of oil, Lebanon's energy minister said on Thursday, adding that production could begin within four years. Speaking at the Arab Economic Forum, Gebrane Bassil said scanning was now complete on 70 percent of the country's territorial waters -- an area of some 15,000 square kilometres (5,791 square miles). "In just 10 percent of that area... we have 30 trillion cubic feet (850 million cubic metres) of gas and 660 million barrels of oil," he said.