Subscribe to Print Edition | Tue., September 11, 2007 Elul 28, 5767 | | Israel Time: 07:54 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
  Back to Homepage
Print Edition
Diplomacy
Defense Arts & Leisure Real Estate Jewish World National Advertising
Magazine Week's End Business Opinion Rosner's Domain Anglo File Books Travel
A fuel tanks witnesses reported seeing fall from an IAF jet near the Turkish border with Syria on Thursday. (Channel 2)
del.icio.us
Digg It!  new
Last update - 00:23 10/09/2007
Syrian MP: IAF overflight was an attack that failed
By Barak Ravid, Yoav Stern, and Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents and News Agencies

A hardline Syrian lawmaker said Sunday that the alleged violation of his country's airspace by the Israel Air Force in the early hours of Thursday was an attempted attack that had failed.

"What happened was an attempted attack, but it definitely failed and that is what led to the contradictions in Israeli declarations," said Muhammad Habash, who often expresses a hardline stance about Israel under the direction of the Syrian regime.

Habash said that if Israel had succeeded, it would have rushed to announce the operation to the world, as it did immediately after bombing the Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981.

Advertisement
Meanwhile, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem was to present Turkey with evidence backing its claim that the IAF had indeed violated Syrian airspace, the London-based Arabic-language newspaper Al-Hayyat reported Sunday. (Click here for map)

Muallem was to arrive in Ankara on Sunday, for meetings with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan. Prior to departing for Turkey, Muallem was to meet with European Union envoys in Damascus.

Al-Hayyat also quoted its senior correspondent in Damascus, Ibrahim Hamidi, as saying that Syria is convinced that the Syrian military's warning to Israel "against such operations" was "serious, deterring, and non-escalating."

Damascus sources said they believe the alleged operation was a "diplomatic and military experiment" in order to test Syria's reactions and intentions.

Israel is maintaining a complete blackout regarding the Syrian charges. Cabinet ministers and senior IDF officers have repeatedly refused to comment on the alleged incident, either on or off the record.

They did, however, express their satisfaction with developments and the way decisions had been taken during the crisis with Syria in recent weeks.

Reporters who were invited to the cabinet meeting were only allowed to enter the room once all the ministers were already seated, in order to prevent the media from asking the ministers questions.

Syria is still undecided on its response to the alleged IAF flyover. The defense establishment does not rule out a Syrian attempt to respond by missile fire. Syria reportedly might also respond later, possibly through terror groups identified with it.

The IDF, however, has lowered its state of alert on the Syrian border compared to last week. Israeli defense officials said over the weekend that although the situation on the Syrian border is still of concern, it is unlikely that Syrian President Bashar Assad was headed for war in the immediate future.

The Lebanese newspaper A-Nahar said Sunday that reports were circulating in Damascus according to which Syria had begun a partial call-up of reservists. However, the newspaper emphasized that it was unclear to what extent the reports were true and whether or not the call-up is related to Thursday's incident.

Turkey has asked Israel for clarification after finding two fuel tanks on its territory near the Syrian border.

The tanks allegedly belong to IAF warplanes, a diplomatic source said Saturday. Turkey's Hurriyet newspaper Saturday published photographs of what it said were fuel tanks jettisoned by Israeli F-15s sent to gather intelligence on Syrian installations near the Turkish border.

The jettisoned fuel tanks were discovered late on Thursday in the Turkish provinces of Hatay and Gaziantep, near the Syrian border, hours after Damascus had accused Israel of dropping munitions over its territory.

The Prime Minister's Bureau refused to respond to the reports in the Turkish media. However, government sources noted that Israel's envoy to Ankara was summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry and given a diplomatic protest regarding the alleged IAF flyover of Syrian air space.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry announced Thursday that it "took a harsh view of the invasion of Syrian air space by the IAF." The Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem is expected to receive the Turkish letter of protest on Sunday and to discuss possible responses to it.

"We have asked Israel to explain what happened," a Turkish diplomatic source told Reuters. The source said Turkish authorities were also trying to establish whether Israeli warplanes had briefly violated Turkey's airspace.

The Hurriyet report cited unnamed "experts" as saying they believed the Israeli warplanes had jettisoned extra fuel tanks in order to escape more swiftly after Syria targeted them. A Western diplomat speaking to Reuters in Damascus on Thursday offered a similar explanation of what had occurred. Witnesses in the area of Tal al-Abiad near the Turkish border where the reported bombing happened also said they spotted several fuel tanks.


Related articles:
  • ANALYSIS: The question is, how will Damascus respond?
  • TIMELINE: A chronology of Israel-Syria relations since 1947
    • Bookmark to del.icio.us
    Tree lovers
    Many decades-old trees are jeopardized by development, but some are saved.
    Take the plunge
    Israel is finally getting over its aquaphobia as more adults take swimming lessons.
      1.   Oops 03:26  |  Mark of Lewiston 09/09/07
      2.   not only dangerous 03:47  |  cesare 09/09/07
      3.   Mark...and Gary Powers 04:16  |  Silvienne 09/09/07
      4.   Explanations 04:18  |  Lisen 09/09/07
      5.   Silvienne - Nothing so Mundane 05:00  |  Mark of Lewiston 09/09/07
      6.   Lisen 05:53  |  Mark of Lewiston 09/09/07
      7.   The "tanks" displayed are too new 05:20  |  Gaby 09/09/07
      8.   Flyovers 05:57  |  Mark T 09/09/07
      9.   Turkey 06:03  |  Lisen 09/09/07
      10.   Mark of Lewiston 06:09  |  Lisen 09/09/07
      11.   round trip to Iran scenario 06:20  |  Andrei 09/09/07
      12.   Turkey, gobble gobble 06:56  |  Mark 09/09/07
      13.   violating Syrian airspace 07:22  |  Iamashamed 09/09/07
      14.   when you fly old planes like the f-15 things could drop off 07:24  |  Kipperraes 09/09/07
      15.   turkish stooges... 07:35  |  ravi 09/09/07
      16.   #5, Mark of Lewiston... 07:35  |  Silvienne 09/09/07
      17.   ANYBODY NEEDS MORE EVIDENCE? 08:37  |  indrajaya 09/09/07
      18.   genius 09:52  |  davidk 09/09/07
      19.   Nothing good would come from relations with Israel 10:34  |  geor 09/09/07
      20.   Nothing good would come out from a relation with Israel. 10:39  |  george 09/09/07
      21.   Indrajaya... 10:45  |  Silvienne 09/09/07
      22.   Indrajaya .No more evidence,you recognise the fuel tanks? 10:48  |  PETER S.M. 09/09/07
      23.   Why is Israel Staying Quiet? 10:49  |  Bernie 09/09/07
      24.   Indrajaya # 12 11:01  |  ATLAS 09/09/07
      25.   Just retaliate NOW 11:06  |  indrajaya 09/09/07
      26.   BERNIE Both sides test each others responses. 11:12  |  PETER S.M. 09/09/07
      27.   Why did Israel fly over Syria? 11:19  |  dovale 09/09/07
      28.   Indrajaya # 13 - I think you shouls stick with 11:20  |  ChanahS 09/09/07
      29.   Hopefully the next war Israel starts will be the last. 11:21  |  Andreas 09/09/07
      30.   Bernie # 19 11:26  |  ChanahS 09/09/07
      31.   Overflights 11:26  |  Jack 09/09/07
      32.   Silence speaks louder than words 11:51  |  natalliedurson@yahoo 09/09/07
      33.   ATLAS # 20 11:51  |  indrajaya 09/09/07
      34.   Silvienne #17 11:56  |  S 09/09/07
      35.   To The Israelis Don`t Forget 12:00  |  Samir Salameh 09/09/07
      36.   tommy suharto is a thief 12:01  |  indrajaya 09/09/07
      37.   A practice run? 12:01  |  Yonatan 09/09/07
      38.   Public can`t always be informed of IDF operations 12:01  |  JordanisPalestine 09/09/07
      39.   Is Israel provocating Syria to start a war? 12:03  |  Alice of Wonderland 09/09/07
      40.   Lisen, leave Turkey alone 12:09  |  Westwell 09/09/07
      41.   Olmert the Opposites Man 12:18  |  Tzfonit 09/09/07
      42.   Indra`s Liberty 12:24  |  Oddvark 09/09/07
      43.   SAMIR SALAMEH How does Israel know you haven`t murdered them? 12:27  |  PETER S.M. 09/09/07
      44.   give Olmert a chance! 12:32  |  nir 09/09/07
      45.   Stupid move Israel 12:33  |  spyguy 09/09/07
      46.   WESWELL Israel is NOT "picking on" Turkey,a respected friend 12:37  |  PETER S.M. 09/09/07
      47.   indrajaya (#21) 12:39  |  christoph 09/09/07
      48.   "Varietas delectat" 12:49  |  indrajaya 09/09/07
      49.   Indrajaya 12:50  |  Zed 09/09/07
      50.   Turkey was shocked by ADL`s recognition of Armenian genocide 12:58  |  Truthtopower 09/09/07
      51.   #46, Peter SM 13:06  |  Silvienne 09/09/07
      52.   What is the problem,the Syrians would do the same if they could 13:10  |  indrajaya 09/09/07
      53.   Nazi Regime in Syria coming to an end 13:30  |  Alon 09/09/07
      54.   Ya a`zizi indrajaya... (a pity, I lack knowledge in indonesian) 13:31  |  christoph 09/09/07
      55.   Is Syria isn`t preparing for war, no worries, we can "fix" that 13:39  |  thru-other-eyes 09/09/07
      56.   IAF in Syria Experts Blew it again 13:40  |  howard 09/09/07
      57.   Well Done IFA - Wonderful photos 13:42  |  Breathtaking 09/09/07
      58.   # 45 ,AH AH STUPID SPYGUY 13:43  |  David 09/09/07
      59.   SYRIAN MISSLIES TO HEZBOLLAH - VIOLATED ISRAEL AIRSPACE? 13:46  |  Alan 09/09/07
      60.   We are coming to Jerusalem 13:47  |  Sami 09/09/07
      61.   # 45 ,AH AH STUPID SPYGUY 13:50  |  David 09/09/07
      62.   Silvienne.Wait for the full story. 13:51  |  PETER SM 09/09/07
      63.   #32 NATHALIE DURSON - SILENCES OVER REAL WAR CRIMES 14:11  |  Alan Altar 09/09/07
      64.   Truthtopower:Learn to read before spinning conspiracy theories 14:16  |  Suha 09/09/07
      65.   #48 Indra "Varietas delectat" Jaya 14:35  |  51 shekels 09/09/07
      66.   Syria can`t complain 14:41  |  John 09/09/07
      67.   LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS 15:05  |  B`galil 09/09/07
      68.   Indrajaya-Oh Yes Israel Wants a Jewish Caliphate LOL 15:06  |  Jane 09/09/07
      69.   we must not be too hard on israel 15:07  |  indrajaya 09/09/07
      70.   PETER SM 15:09  |  fadi 09/09/07
      71.   natalliedurson@yahoo # 32 Not Quite 15:40  |  Jeff Northridge 09/09/07
      72.   Stop the Ummah BS indrajaya, already told you it is all hot air 15:40  |  Jesus 09/09/07
      73.   Indrajaya: No more warmongering 15:41  |  Ruth 09/09/07
      74.   Are Syrians telling the truth? 15:42  |  Frank 09/09/07
      75.   The Syrian response: Whining like a baby 15:53  |  Avi 09/09/07
      76.   To PETER S.M. they are alive 15:58  |  Samir Salameh 09/09/07
      77.   iran is the target 16:00  |  sultan alshaalan 09/09/07
      78.   16 Silvienne 16:01  |  Mark of Lewiston 09/09/07
      79.   For Iamashamed of the UK