Syria’s information minister has denied rebel that claims they attacked President Bashar al-Assad’s convoy.
Reports that rebel rockets hit his motorcade were “dreams and illusions”, Omran Zoabi told Syrian state TV.
Rebels said they fired mortars at his convoy as it headed towards the Anas bin Malek mosque in the Malki area, where the president has a residence.
Pictures showed Mr Assad unharmed at a prayer service at a Damascus mosque to mark the end of Ramadan.
Earlier, Islam Alloush of the militant Liwa al-Islam Brigade, told Reuters news agency the president’s motorcade was hit as it drove to the mosque in the Syrian capital.
Opposition activists and residents also reported what seemed to be the sound of several incoming mortar explosions in the early morning, says the BBC’s Jim Muir in Beirut.
However it is not clear if the reported blasts in the district were connected to the presidential visit. Bashar al-Assad drove his own car to the mosque, Omran Zoabi told state TV.
In his third public appearance in little more than a week, President Assad was seen alongside Syria’s grand mufti, for Eid prayers, which are usually held an hour or two after sunrise. In previous years, Mr al-Assad has been seen attending them early in the morning.
The pictures aired on state TV carried a “live” caption only momentarily
It was unclear whether the pictures of the president aired on Syrian state television were pre-recorded, analysts at BBC Monitoring said. For a brief moment they carried a “live” caption, which then swiftly vanished.
It is possible that the footage was pre-recorded, analysts said, as the reports that the president’s convoy was struck while travelling to the mosque had come around one hour previously.
