Syrian FM: Israel dropped live ammo - Haaretz

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Tue., September 11, 2007 Elul 28, 5767

Israel Time: 02:01 (EST+7)

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Syrian FM: Israel dropped live ammo

By Yoav Stern and Assaf Uni Haaretz Correspondents and Agencies

The Israeli warplanes that violated Syria's airspace last week dropped live ammunition on Syrian soil, Damascus' foreign minister said yesterday, adding that Israel's decision not to comment was "appropriate."

"Israel used live ammunition in a deliberate and hostile attack," Minister Walid Moallem said at a news conference during an official visit to Turkey.

His Turkish counterpart, Ali Babacan, demanded a quick explanation from Israel over fuel tanks found near the Syrian border in the incident last Thursday, which he said involved violation of Turkish airspace by Israeli jets. Israel is still not commenting on the incident.

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"All countries in the region must show respect to all countries' sovereignty and avoid acts that lead to tensions," Babacan said. "Otherwise, tensions would be fueled, and peace and stability in the region might be harmed."

European diplomats who met with Moallem on Sunday in Damascus quoted him as saying that Israel's decision not to comment on the incident was appropriate, given the circumstances. Moallem reportedly told the Europeans that he expected Israel to apologize "through the usual channels."

In Ankara, Moallem went on to reveal the details of the alleged strike, which according to him resulted in no casualties or damage to property. Moallem said that three Israeli planes fired four missiles at targets on the ground in the Dayr al-Zur district in eastern Syria, after entering Syrian airspace from the Mediterranean.

The Syrian foreign minister said the Syrian anti-aircraft radar system detected the planes when they were deep inside Syrian territory. He added the planes released their missiles very shortly after they were detected.

Despite the apparent outrage in Damascus over the incident, European diplomats who met with Moallem told Haaretz that they had received the impression that Syria would not retaliate militarily.

"Moallem did not demand the European Union to condemn the Israeli action, nor did he indicate that Syria would demand the United Nations Security Council hold a discussion on the matter," one European diplomat told Haaretz. "We got the impression that Syria is not interested in seeing this incident escalate."

The London-based daily Al-Hayyat reported yesterday that Israel had conveyed a calming message to Damascus via European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana. The paper quoted Moallem as saying that Solana informed him on Wednesday night during a meeting in Cairo that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Solana that Israel will decrease its military presence in the Golan Heights.

Moallem reportedly said that Solana had informed him of Israel's intention to withdraw most Israel Defense Forces troops stationed in the area to ease increasing tensions with Syria.

Moallem reportedly told the diplomats that the message was just a "preparation for the penetration of planes into Syrian skies, just hours later."

Haaretz has learned that Moallem told European diplomats that the calming message before the strike proved that Israel was interested in war rather than peace.

The next day Moallem called Solana, reports Al-Hayyat, to inform him of the incident, and told him that it came in direct contrast to Olmert's message and to Israel's declarations that it has peaceful intentions.

Meanwhile, former MK Azmi Bishara said he believes Israel carried out a military operation in Syria.

"Without getting carried away in speculation, this was an aerial operation, not an [airspace] violation that's meant to send a message," he wrote in an article published on the Syrian Web site Sham-Fares. Bishara wrote that the operation could have dire consequences, and that some officials in Lebanon or Syria could view it as a pretext to go to war.

The former Balad chairman added that Israel's refusal to comment on the issue was unusual. "Israel has wrapped itself in silence, imposing it on its most talkative politicians," he wrote. "Israel realizes the quiet after the storm could become the quiet before the storm."

Bishara said the strike might have been directed against a number of targets, such as people or units involved with arms smuggling, anti-aircraft systems or missile systems.

Alternatively, Bishara wrote, Israel may have been testing Syrian air defenses in order to map out a route for an air strike on Iran.

Barak Ravid adds: At a joint news conference in Jerusalem, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni asked her Portuguese counterpart to refrain from commenting on the incident. After Minister Luis Amado, whose country currently holds the presidency of the European Union, was asked for the EU's stance on the incident, Livni interrupted the discussion and signaled to Amado not to answer.

"I do not believe any statement by any party could help matters," Livni explained before moving on to the next question. "I find it ponderous that you should expect me to comment on this. You already know our position on the subject."

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