Government denies president targeted in any security incident

Syrian authorities on Monday denied President Ahmed al-Sharaa had been targeted in any security incident, while two sources told AFP a shooting took place in Damascus's presidential palace last week.

For days, social media users have been circulating reports of gunfire on Dec. 30 at the palace, which overlooks the capital — and Sharaa has not been seen in public since then.

But interior ministry spokesman Noureddine al-Baba said "reports claiming a security incident targeted" Sharaa or other senior figures were "totally baseless."

"We categorically affirm that these claims are entirely false," he said.

A diplomat from a country that supports Syria's new Islamist authorities told AFP on condition of anonymity that "a shooting took place at the presidential palace on the evening of Dec. 30."

Separately, Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor, told AFP a shooting inside the palace that evening lasted "around 12 minutes" and left several wounded.

Abdel Rahman, whose Britain-based Observatory relies on a network of sources inside Syria, said the incident was caused by "an internal dispute" between individuals at the palace and did not target Sharaa.

The Syrian leader, who appears sporadically, has not been seen in public since he unveiled the country's new currency last Monday.