Syria's state news agency said today that a "terrorist group" blew up a gas pipeline running between the centre of the country and its coast.
The pro-government Addounia TV station also reported the attack and said the blast, which occurred near Telkalakh, close to the Lebanese border, caused a leak of about 460,000 cubic metres of gas.
Syria has faced gas shortages as pipelines come under attack while President Bashar al-Assad's forces try to crush protests and an armed insurgency aimed at toppling him.
France's Foreign Minister Alain Juppe will address the UN Security Council in New York tomorrow in an effort to push through an Arab-backed resolution for political change in Syria.
"The minister will be in New York on Tuesday to convince the Security Council to meet its responsibilities as the crimes against humanity committed by the regime get worse," Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said.
Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby left for New York yesterday where he will brief representatives of the Security Council, seeking support for the Arab peace plan, which calls for President Bashar al-Assad to step down.
France and Britain crafted the resolution in consultation with Qatar and Morocco, as well as Germany, Portugal and the United States. It is intended to supersede a Russian draft that Western delegations say is too accommodating to Assad and also no longer relevant in light of the recent Arab League proposals.
Veto-holding Russia, which said last week that parts of the Western-Arab draft resolution were unacceptable, said today it wanted the Council to hear directly from the Arab League's observer mission in Syria before discussing any resolutions.
The French-backed draft resolution, obtained by Reuters, calls for a "political transition" in Syria. While not calling for UN sanctions against Damascus, it does say that the Security Council could "adopt further measures" if Syria does not comply with the terms of the resolution.
"It is time the Security Council acts to find a solution to this crisis," Mr Valero said in a daily briefing to reporters.France has been prominent in Western efforts to try to force Dr Assad to end a crackdown on protests and has suggested a need to set up zones to protect civilians - the first proposal by a Western power for outside intervention on the ground.
Earlier, troops seized eastern suburbs of Damascus from rebels late yesterday, opposition activists said, after two days of fighting only a few kilometres from the centre of power of Dr Assad.
"The Free Syrian Army has made a tactical withdrawal. Regime forces have re-occupied the suburbs and started making house-to-house arrests," an activist named Kamal said by phone from the eastern al-Ghouta area on the edge of the capital. A spokesman for the Free Syrian Army of defectors fighting Assad's forces appeared to confirm that account.
"Tanks have gone in but they do not know where the Free Syrian Army is. We are still operating close to Damascus," Maher al-Naimi told Reuters by phone from Turkey.
Activists said earlier yesterday soldiers had moved into the suburbs at dawn, along with at least 50 tanks and other armoured vehicles. At least 19 civilians and rebel fighters were killed in that initial attack, they said.
Fighters had taken over districts less than eight km from the heart of the city. The areas have seen repeated protests against Assad's rule and crackdowns by troops in the 10-month-old uprising.
"It's urban war. There are bodies in the street," said an activist speaking from the suburb of Kfar Batna.
Residents of central Damascus reported seeing soldiers and police deployed around main squares.
The escalating bloodshed prompted the Arab League to suspend the work of its monitors on Saturday.
Reuters