- DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Syria's
armed forces chief of staff ordered his troops on Thursday to be on high
alert against any possible Israeli "aggression" after Israeli
warplanes struck a site near Damascus earlier this month.
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- Lieutenant General Hasan Turkmani urged "fighters
to keep working day and night and stay at maximum readiness and be alert
to repel any possible aggression of (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon's
government," the state news agency reported.
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- A senior Israeli security source denied the Jewish state
sought new hostilities with Syria, with which it is officially at war.
"We do not intend to escalate tensions," the source said. "These
statements out of Damascus are clearly for internal consumption."
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- Israel carried out an air strike on October 5 against
what it said was a training camp for "terror groups" after a
suicide bombing in Haifa in northern Israel that killed 20 people. The
Islamic Jihad movement said it was behind the attack.
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- Israel said it reserved the right to attack "terrorist
organizations and their leaders" even on foreign soil.
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- Turkmani, addressing the armed forces on air defense
day, said Israel was trying to export its domestic crises by harassing
Syria.
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- President Bashar al-Assad, quoted by the state news agency,
told Israel its military zeal would not intimidate Syrians and accused
it of trying to fuel "the war against Islam."
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- Israel "should know that no matter how big their
military might grows they will not succeed in achieving their goals or
in planting fears in us," Assad said in a speech at the summit of
the Organization of the Islamic Conference in Malaysia.
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- "As we talk about the war being waged today against
Islam we have to keep in mind that there are various powers in this world
that have worked systematically on fueling up this war, in the lead of
these powers is Israel, the state of terrorism."
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- Syria, which says the October 5 raid struck a civilian
location near the village of Ain Saheb, has demanded the U.N. Security
Council condemn Israel for the attack, the deepest air raid into Syria
by the Jewish state in 30 years.
-
- But Assad also said that "we call for a just and
comprehensive peace in our region and are working to achieve this in line
with international resolutions."
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- Syria denies links to "terrorist groups" and
says there is a difference between terrorism and legitimate resistance
to Israeli occupation.
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- "With our constant condemnation of terrorism and
rejection of violence we affirm the right of any people whose land is occupied
and are under aggression to resist occupation and aggression," the
agency quoted Assad as saying.
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- Washington has said Syria must stop "harboring terrorists,"
but urged both Israel and Syria to avoid actions that could inflame tension
in the region.
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- The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Wednesday
to impose sanctions on Syria until the White House says it has stopped
sponsoring terrorism and halted programs for weapons of mass destruction.
The U.S. Senate will take up the measure.
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