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Assad: Syria won't attend fall summit if issue of Golan not addressed
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent

Syrian President Bashar Assad told the BBC in an interview published Monday that his country would refuse to attend the regional peace summit schedule to take place in the United States next month unless all of its concerns are addressed. Assad was referring to the return of the Golan Heights, which Israel captured in the 1967 Six-Day War.

"So far we didn't have the invitation and we didn't have any clarification about anything," Assad said. "If they don't talk about the Syrian occupied territory, no, there's no way for Syria to go there.

The Syrian president also told the BBC that Syria reserves the right to respond to the Israel Air Force's alleged attack last month inside its territory.

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Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem called the alleged strike "the latest act of Israeli aggression against Syria," and told the United Nations General Assembly it was "proof of Israel's desire to escalate tension."

"Some sources in the United States have spread rumors and fabricated news in order to justify this act of aggression," Moallem said. "By distorting the facts they have become Israel's accomplices."

Damascus has previously said the raid hit an empty area, causing no casualties, after air defense systems confronted the aircraft.

"The failure of the international community, including the (UN) Security Council, 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," Moallem said.

Syria denied Sunday that military activity is taking place at the Dir al-Zur research farm, which was the target of the alleged IAF bombing raid in Syria about a month ago, according to a report last week in the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth.

The denial came in the form of a Syrian television broadcast that showed pictures of civilian agricultural research taking place at the site under the auspices of the Arab League.

In addition, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) published a statement by the research center denying that Israel had ever bombed the site.

The Syrian disclaimers were a response to the Yedioth article, in which the paper's military analyst, Ron Ben Yishai, suggested that Dir al-Zur had been the target of the Israeli raid.

The article, which SANA termed "a mixture of imagination and a pack of lies," also included a photograph of Ben Yishai posed against the background of a sign from the research farm.

There has thus far been no Israeli or international confirmation of Yedioth's claim.

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  1.   So let me get this straight 04:31  |  Slibovitz 01/10/07
  2.   1984 04:48  |  Ploni 01/10/07
  3.   Why are the Syrian`s protesting if nothing happened 05:24  |  * BEN JABO 01/10/07
  4.   Well this is surprising 05:28  |  Fred 01/10/07
  5.   This is no piece of news, but hollow blabbing. 05:40  |  Fortuna Benmayor 01/10/07
  6.   To Slibovits and ploni, # 1 & 2 05:49  |  Fortuna Benmayor 01/10/07
  7.   a month to come up with this lie 05:50  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 01/10/07
  8.   next story out of syria 06:41  |  vik 01/10/07
  9.   UFO`s 06:42  |  Bill 01/10/07
  10.   The Syrian`s Silence Is Deafening - It`s Not What Israel 06:49  |  Eli 01/10/07
  11.   No military action - and no homosexuals in Iran! 07:45  |  Martha Hoelzermann 01/10/07
  12.   Stories... 08:23  |  Aaron 01/10/07
  13.   Neutron Farming 08:58  |  Joe Sittizen 01/10/07
  14.   How can you trust an Arab word???? 09:12  |  Billy Joe 01/10/07
  15.   # 3, BEN JABO 09:16  |  indrajaya 01/10/07
  16.   Took them a month to cover it up or is it the farm next door? 09:22  |  almoni 01/10/07
  17.   Stories... 10:30  |  Aaron 01/10/07
  18.   Indrajaya Israel hasn`t said anything 10:30  |  Gil 01/10/07
  19.   Indrajaya (#15) 10:32  |  Gil 01/10/07
  20.   # 19, GIL 10:47  |  indrajaya 01/10/07
  21.   ISRAELIES EXPOSED AS PATHETIC LIARS 11:41  |  DAVID BEN AMOR 01/10/07
  22.   ISRAEL SPREADING LIES AND PROPAGANDA... 12:03  |  TrippleJump 01/10/07
  23.   Indrajaya (#20) 12:06  |  Gil 01/10/07
  24.   Reminds Me of the Iraqi Information Minister 13:15  |  Ovadiah ben Avraham 01/10/07
  25.   Where they farming Kosher Food? 13:43  |  Iranian FudgePacker 01/10/07
  26.   David Ben Tizi # 21 - You Don`t Have To Buy Anything 13:44  |  Phinias Whoppy 01/10/07
  27.   The Americans did it, not the Israelis. 14:31  |  High rank official 01/10/07
  28.   It wasn`t the Americans: it was the Martians 14:38  |  Toss-pot Clone 01/10/07
  29.   # 21 david 14:42  |  Lynn 01/10/07
  30.   # 22 And making Syria look foolish and wimpy!! 14:44  |  Lynn 01/10/07
  31.   Syria`s putting up a brave front. How cute! 14:58  |  Richard S 01/10/07
  32.   Since when do Arabs require a `right` to attack Israel? 15:55  |  Chick 01/10/07
  33.   # 23, GIL 16:00  |  indrajaya 01/10/07
  34.   NO to Syria 16:02  |  Brod 01/10/07
  35.   Assad Stay home it`s about the pals Dummy not you 16:19  |  Kipperraes 01/10/07
  36.   Bashar just admitted a strike on a warehouse 16:22  |  realist 01/10/07
  37.   #15 Indrajaya 16:24  |  Asian Observer 01/10/07
  38.   Gil - I am impressed by your grasp of Bahasa Melayu! 16:26  |  CK Tan 01/10/07
  39.   absolutly absurd ! 16:27  |  Brant 01/10/07
  40.   Israeli airstrike is as real as a homosexual existing in Iran 16:33  |  Chick 01/10/07
  41.   #24 16:36  |  Asian Observer 01/10/07
  42.   Assad has a point 16:39  |  peter 01/10/07
  43.   #1 slibovitz 16:40  |  q 01/10/07
  44.   To Chick (#32) 16:44  |  Earthling 01/10/07
  45.   If You`re Going To Respond, Then Do It 16:58  |  Jeff Northridge 01/10/07
  46.   Assad 17:11  |  leven5 01/10/07
  47.   nothing acheived 17:13  |  Redwan 01/10/07
  48.   The Assad wish list-Something for Nothing 17:14  |  ottomatik 01/10/07
  49.   Israel must abandon EXPANSIONIZM policy 17:15  |  Michel 01/10/07
  50.   ISRAEL: ONE HAND STEALS THE LAND, THE OTHER SHAKE FOR PEACE 17:15  |  TrippleJump 01/10/07
  51.   Exactly so, Chick #32 17:16  |  Polybios 01/10/07
  52.   asad threatens not to attend summit 17:16  |  andifnot 01/10/07
  53.   Chick#32.... YOU STILL BELIEVE IN ZIONIST MYTHS! 17:17  |  Kokonot 01/10/07
  54.   Golan 17:27  |  Shmuelshachor 01/10/07
  55.   Syria and Golan 17:31  |  Roland Nilsson 01/10/07
  56.   Assad shouldn`t go, nor should the Saudis 17:43  |  Tosefta 01/10/07
  57.   The Pals are On Israeli land. 17:51  |  Realist 01/10/07
  58.   am i missing something? 18:10  |  citizen zero 01/10/07
  59.   Golan is Israel for ever 18:12  |  Rafa 01/10/07
  60.   #53 kokonot - What you call `Myths` is History 18:23  |  Chick 01/10/07
  61.   Michel # 49 What Expansionism Policy? 18:25  |  Jeff Northridge 01/10/07
  62.   TrippleJump A Movie Just for You 18:25  |  Gil 01/10/07
  63.   The bombing target may have been a particular item 18:39  |  Tosefta 01/10/07
  64.   #15 indrajaya 18:44  |  * BEN JABO 01/10/07
  65.   58 rafa 18:57  |  alan 01/10/07
  66.   To Gil 61 18:59  |  Realist 01/10/07
  67.   Please, stay home 19:04  |  Tulip 01/10/07
  68.   Michel # 49 19:10  |  ChanahS 01/10/07
  69.   to #27 19:14  |  ARI 01/10/07
  70.   kokonut # 53 19:16  |  ChanahS 01/10/07
  71.   To Officer Nilsson on #55 19:23  |  Shmuelshachor 01/10/07
  72.   tripple jump...the palestinians thought they owned 19:33  |  maria 01/10/07
  73.   Of course Assad should not go 19:39  |  Polybios 01/10/07
  74.   That helps 19:41  |  Mark Lincoln 01/10/07
  75.   To 65 Alan 19:44  |  Realist 01/10/07
  76.   Assad`s Uselessness 19:50  |  Rabbi Izzy Lahm 01/10/07
  77.   Assad`s Sour Grapes 19:52  |  Jeff Northridge 01/10/07
  78.   Stupid Arabs 19:54  |  Chaim Gorenstein 01/10/07
  79.   maybe the true story 20:08  |  ama 01/10/07
  80.   Tosefta as `Carnac the Magnificent" 20:16  |  Jacob Blues 01/10/07
  81.   #63 - Tosefta 20:20  |  JES 01/10/07