TWIN bombs exploded outside the Palace of Justice in Damascus overnight as deadly violence raged across the country and Turkey reportedly deployed missile batteries along its border with Syria.
With fighting in the 16-month-old revolt increasingly focusing on the capital, world powers were preparing for a crucial meeting on ways to end the conflict and to discuss a plan by peace envoy Kofi Annan for an interim government.
The meeting in Geneva, only agreed to after wrangling between Moscow and Washington over the agenda and the guest list, is to be attended by some regional governments but not by rival Middle East heavyweights Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Russia poured cold water on tomorrow's meeting, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov saying Moscow backs a political transition in Syria but rejects Western pressure for the ouster of President Bashar al Assad.
Meanwhile, three people were wounded when the bombs exploded in the car park outside the court complex in central Damascus, state media reported.
A police source said two magnetic bombs exploded in two judges' cars and that a third was being defused.
State television showed footage of heavy smoke rising from the site as firefighters battled the flames.
Elsewhere, violence killed at least 69 people, including 38 civilians, overnight after one of the bloodiest days of the 15-month revolt, a watchdog said.
Turkey, meanwhile, has sent missile batteries, tanks and troops to the border with Syria as a "security corridor" after Syria shot down a Turkish military jet last Friday, media reports said.
There was no official confirmation, but state-run TRT television showed dozens of military vehicles loaded with army personnel reportedly on the move for the volatile border, in a convoy that included low-altitude air defence systems and anti-aircraft guns.
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