Syria Says Israel Hit `unused Building'
Pastor Dale Morgan
Syria Says Israel Hit `unused Building'*
By SAM F. GHATTAS
The Associated Press
Monday, October 1, 2007; 5:17 PM
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Syrian President Bashar Assad confirmed Monday that
Israeli warplanes attacked a target inside his country last month and
didn't just intrude into its air space, but he said the jets hit only an
"unused military building."
It wasn't clear if Assad explicitly denied during an interview with
British Broadcasting Corp. the claims from current and former U.S.
officials that the Sept. 6 incident was an attack on either a nuclear or
missile facility that Syria operated jointly with North Korea.
The BBC's Web site did not include video of that part of the interview.
It quoted Assad only as saying the attack was on an "unused military
building." Lower level officials in his government previously denied
Syria had any targets like those claimed by the Americans.
North Korea also denied being involved in any such activities in Syria,
and both countries accused U.S. officials of spreading the allegations
for political reasons.
At the United Nations, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem told the
General Assembly's ministerial meeting that "sources in the United
States" are fabricating rumors about the airstrike's target as a way to
help Israel.
Al-Moallem warned that a failure by the U.N. Security Council and
international community to condemn "this act of aggression would
encourage Israel to persist in this hostile pursuit, and lead to an
exacerbation of tensions in the region."
Assad's comments were his first about the mysterious Sept. 6 incident.
Israel has said nothing about it, while Syrian officials had said only
that Israeli warplanes entered their nation's air space, came under fire
and fled.
Assad said his government reserved the right to retaliate for the
airstrike, but also said his country was not about to attack Israel,
suggesting he did not want to hurt chances at peace talks with the
Jewish state.
But Assad made clear Syria would not attend a U.S.-sponsored
international peace conference on the Middle East if it did not address
Israel's occupation of the Golan Heights, which it captured from Syria
during the 1967 Mideast war.
Assad said the air raid on northern Syria last month showed Israel's
"visceral antipathy towards peace," according to excerpts posted on the
BBC's Web site.
"Retaliate doesn't mean missile for missile and bomb for bomb," he told
the BBC in an interview in Damascus, Syria. "We have our means to
retaliate, maybe politically, maybe in other ways. But we have the right
to retaliate in different means."
Asked if Syria was rearming and strengthening its missile capabilities,
Assad said, "This is very normal and self-evident that we're going to
prepare ourselves for that."
The Syrian leader said his government needs to know details of the
international peace conference planned in the United States before it
decides whether to participate.
"This conference or any conference is going to be an opportunity but it
should be purposeful. It should be substantive," Assad said. "I don't
see where is the purpose and what is the substance of this conference.
What are they going to talk about?"
He made clear that Syria's concerns need to be addressed, primarily its
demand for the return of the Golan Heights.
"If they don't talk about the Syrian occupied territory, no, there's no
way for Syria to go there. It should be about comprehensive peace, and
Syria is part of this comprehensive peace. Without that, we shouldn't
go, we wouldn't go," Assad said.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said that key Arab nations,
including Syria, will be invited to the conference, which is expected to
be held in November. The meeting is intended to provide the foundation
for peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
___
Associated Press writerh Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations
contributed to this report.