Last update - 00:00 09/09/2007
Syria yet to decide on how to respond to alleged IAF flyover
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent
Syria said it was continuing to weigh its responses to the alleged Israeli flyover of Syrian airspace overnight Wednesday, and that senior military officials were involved in the consultations. No additional details about the flyover were forthcoming over the weekend.
Syrian Vice President Farouk Shara said in an interview Saturday in the Italian daily La Repubblica, "Leaders and senior military figures were examining a series of responses. The results will not be long in coming." Shara added that he could not reveal more since it was a "matter of national security."
Fuel tanks, apparently from a fighter plane, were reportedly found in Turkey near the Syrian border. A Turkish diplomat told the Turkish daily Hurriyet that Turkey would demand explanations from Israel as to what had occured near its border. It was also reported that Turkey was investigating whether Israeli fighter planes had penetrated its air space for a short time during the alleged incident. (Click here for map).
The Syrian government daily Al-Thawra on Friday called the alleged flyover "an Israeli adventure whose outcome was not considered ahead of time." The term used was similar to one Saudi Arabia and Egypt used for the kidnapping of the two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah in July 2006, which led to the Second Lebanon War. The government newspaper Tishrin wrote Saturday that the alleged penetration of Syrian skies by Israel was "wild" and "an act of new piracy" by Israel. Tishrin's editor-in-chief, Issam Dari, wrote that the alleged act may have been carried out in cooperation with the United States.
"We do not expect an American response, because if it comes, it certainly will justify this act of piracy," Dari wrote.
Dari also attacked the Arab countries for keeping silent on the matter, which he said "attests to the fact that Syria is isolated not only internationally, but also in the Arab world."
So far, the Arab League, Qatar and Yemen have condemned Israel. Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa called the alleged incident "unacceptable maneuvers," which he said showed that Israel was not interested in promoting peace in the region. Egypt made do with a statement from its Foreign Ministry, noting "these violations only add to tension in the region at a time when there is a need for all sides to work toward calm," the statement said.
On Saturday, the Syrian news agency SANA, which reported in detail on all international condemnations of the alleged incident, said that the Yemenite foreign minister called his Syrian counterpart Walid Mualem to denounce Israel and say that his country stood by Syria.
The official Qatar news agency said Friday that the action endangered regional security. The statement said that a senior source in the Foreign Ministry had asked the Quartet to take responsibility for putting an end to Israel's behavior. Sheikh Naim Qassam, the assistant secretary general of Hezbollah, condemned the alleged action in a speech he gave Friday, calling it a "new provocation."
John Bolton, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, wrote in the Wall Street Journal about 10 days ago that in return for U.S. recognition, North Korea should give a full report on its relations with other countries, particularly Syria and Iran. He said it would be a grave mistake for the United States to establish diplomatic relations with North Korea and remove North Korea from the list of state sponsors of terrorism if that country calls a halt to its nuclear program and agrees to monitoring of its facilities.