Four people were killed and 11 wounded in an explosion outside an international trade fair in the Syrian capital Damascus on Sunday, an organizer told dpa.

The explosion was caused by a home-made rocket that went off at the entrance, a source at the fair's administration said.

The rocket was launched from Eastern Ghouta on the outskirts of Damascus, where rebel groups have been active for years, according to the source.

The Damascus International Fair, which opened on Thursday, has been touted by the Syrian government as an economic comeback, with organizers saying some 43 Arab and foreign countries are participating.

The fair is the first to be held since Syria's multi-sided civil war began in 2011. The conflict has devastated Syrian society, forcing more than half of the population to leave their homes and millions to flee abroad.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said earlier on Sunday that, although Syria has paid a high price for the civil war, the country has managed to sabotage the "Western project."

Syria has "dealt with the west for four decades and they have done us no good," al-Assad said in a conference at the Foreign Ministry in Damascus. "They want security cooperation but we would only do this under a legitimate political cover."

According to al-Assad, the Syrian government will not cooperate with Western countries until they cut all ties with terrorism.

"We will not allow the terrorists to achieve any military or political gains," he said.

The Syrian president called on his ambassadors to reach out to eastern countries instead of the West, "for they [eastern countries] treat us with respect."

"We must head east - economically, culturally and politically," al-Assad said.

The US, UK, Germany and France are among the countries that have closed their embassies in Syria since 2012. Al-Assad said his government does not give much weight to that matter and that "reopening the embassies will not woo us."

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