Syrian security defuse chemical laden car bomb in city of Homs - state tv

AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian authorities defused a car bomb planted in the heart of a main residential area in the city of Homs that had quantities of highly explosive chemicals, Syrian state television said on Wednesday.

It said the car laden with C4 chemicals had been planted in the Zahra district of the city. The news flash gave no further details. The district has a mainly Alawite population and in the past has been targeted by Sunni insurgents seeking to bring down the family rule of President Bashar al-Assad, who himself is from the country's minority Alawite sect.

(Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by Leslie Adler)