Syria says Israeli air raid aimed at justifying attack

DAMASCUS— Syrian Vice President Faruq al-Shara said on Saturday that a recent Israeli air raid on what is thought to be a Syrian military installation was meant to provide justification for future aggression on the country.

"Those who continue to talk about this raid and to invent inaccurate details (about it), are aiming to justify a future aggression" againt Syria, Shara said at a press conference with his visiting Iraqi counterpart, Adel Abdel Mahdi.

"They are manipulating public opinion to convince it that (Israel) does not want war. They are lying about that," he added.

Shara went on to denounce "Arab or international parties that write about things that did not happen and who claim North Koreans or others were killed" in the September 6 raid.

"Anyone who says that is wrong and is trying to conduct psychological warfare against Syria, which will not be tricked. Certain people in Israel are hoping that through this they can repair the beating given to the Israeli army by the Lebanese resistance."

That was a reference to last year's war between Israel and Hezbollah, in which the Jewish state failed in its objective to neutralise the Lebanese Shiite Muslim movement, backed by allies Syria and Iran.

Syria said its air defences opened fire on Israeli warplanes on September 6 after they violated its airspace, ratcheting up the tension between the neighbouring foes.

A Syrian cabinet minister warned that the nation's leadership was considering its response to the Israeli "aggression" while in Israel the military declined any comment.

Amid the Israeli blackout, most of the speculation on the raid has come from foreign media. One scenario has it that Israel bombed a suspected nuclear facility in its northern neighbour that was allegedly being built with the help of North Korea.

Both Damascus and Pyongyang have roundly denied the reports.

On Saturday, a senior Israeli defence official said "there is no danger of war."

Amos Gilad, a political advisor to the defence ministry and a reserve major general, said the army's priority on the occupied Golan Heights was "to return to full operational capacity in order to prepare for any contingency in the future".

However, he said, "there is no danger of direct confrontation between Israel and Syria because the two countries are not interested."

Israel captured the Golan from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed the territory. Disputes over the terms of its eventual return to Syria have been key to the failure of now-frozen peace negotiations between the two countries.

Gilad also dismissed recent air alerts which have forced Israel to scramble jets as "isolated incidents of no consequence because the two countries don't want war".

Israeli fighters scrambled on Thursday for the third time in a week after Syrian helicopters were detected flying over Syrian territory near the armistice line, military sources said.

Turning to the planned November Middle East peace meeting being hosted by the United States, and to which Syria is expected to be invited, Shara said he hoped any such gathering would be "based on UN resolutions, the Arab (League) peace initiative, the return of occupied Arab lands and the construction of a Palestinian state."

DAMASCUS—

Iraqi Vice President , Adel Abdul-Mehdi, on Saturday described his visit to Syria as very excellent , wonderful and brotherly , and characterized by transparency . In a press conference held jointly with Vice President , Farouk alShara, before his departure, Abdul-Medhi indicated that during his visit the present situation was evaluated and a joint vision was crystallized for future work.

He expressed high appreciation and gratitude for President Bashar al-Assad for the warm welcome he received in Syria , and for the service that Syria has been offering to the Iraqi refugees.

He said that Iraqi government has a big role to play with regard to those refugees in addition to the international community which should offer the necessary aid to them.

Regarding the recent US. Congress decision to partitioning Iraq , Abdul-Mehdi stressed that any talk about Iraq portioning doesn't worth discussion because partitioning is unacceptable and no one has the right to divide it.

With regard to a possible military strike against Iran, and the possibility of using the Iraqi territories for that military strike, Abdul-Mehdi stressed that Iraq rejects the usage of its territories for launching aggression against any neighboring countries.

He added that Iraq was careful to what it belongs and that topic had been lengthily discussed with President Bashar al-Assad who underlined his support to the political process in Iraq.

He indicated that mechanisms were laid down for defending the principles and for helping Iraq to pull out of the problems.

Concerning the national reconciliation in Iraq , Abdul-Mehdi ,stressed that national reconciliation is moving forward and Syria has a big role in the achievement of national reconciliation in Iraq because of the confidence that the various Iraqi parties have in theSyrian leadership and for the pan-Arab weight that Syria enjoys.

In reply to a question on the Syrian-Iraqi economic cooperation and the reopening of the pipeline between the two countries , the Iraqi Vice President said that the topic was discussed and technical delegation will come to Damascus to discuss various issues related to that cooperation.

For his part, alShara agreed that Abdul-Mehdi 's talks were held in depth particularly with President alAssad , describing his meetings as good , fruitful , and positive and are not only linked to this visit but also to future vision which is the concern of Syria and Iraq inorder to pull out of this situation.

He went on to say that Syria was serious to cooperate closely with the Iraqi brotherly leadership to overcome all the difficulties in the region.

AlShara said that that visit and the two other previous visits by the Iraqi president and prime minister were all based on the fact that both have one security which can not be changed by any occupier or foreigner ,and because it is a matter –of- fact imposed by history and geography.

AlShara said that the security of Iraq is of Syria's concern and that doesn't mean the only the security of borders with Iraq , and Syria is honest and faithful in doing its best to help the Iraqi people to pull out of this stand off regardless of ideological , and oil considerations,

pointing out that Syria's concern is to have future Syrian-Iraqi relations with its pan-Arab dimension of destiny , and because of the deep mutual interests of the two countries.

He added that the occupation will certainly end tomorrow if not today, and the main concern should be focused on how to build independent Iraq which has good relations with its neighbors , particularly with Syria.

With regard to the Israeli media leaks about recent Israeli warplanes violation of the Syrian airspace , alShara expressed surprise over the volume of the allegations , and the center which was photographed by the media was the a centre of Arid Land and Dry Areas which belongs to the Arab League and located in Deir-Ezzor.

Siria su Israele: cerca giustificazioni per una guerra

sabato, 29 settembre 2007 3.44

DAMASCO - La Siria oggi ha detto che Israele inventa delle giustificazioni per la guerra diffondendo notizie false secondo cui un raid aereo israeliano avrebbe avuto come obiettivo un luogo legato ad armi di distruzione di massa.