Sunday, September 30, 2007

Israel "Making Excuses For War"

29/09/2007 20:36 - (SA)
News24

Damascus - Syria accused Israel on Saturday of making excuses for war by spreading what it described as false reports that an Israeli air raid targeted a site linked to weapons of mass destruction.

Syrian Deputy President Farouq al-Shara said his country did not want war "in the distant or near future".

"They (Israel) are making up things to justify an aggression in the future. They are playing on public opinion to mislead it," he said, describing the reports as fabrications.

"Everything reported about this raid is wrong and is part of a psychological warfare that will not fool Syria," Shara told reporters after meeting his Iraqi counterpart Adel Abdul-Mahdi.

Damascus says Israel launched the air raid on September 6, bombing an empty area after air defence systems confronted the aircraft.

...Shara said the raid also was aimed at boosting the morale of the Israeli military, which failed to crush the Lebanese movement Hezbollah, an ally of Syria, in last year's war.

"They want to rehabilitate the Israeli army after the Lebanese resistance broke it. But what Israel needs is to rehabilitate the Israeli mind, only then will a real opportunity for genuine peace be created," he said.
...The United States, Israel's chief ally, has said it would invite Syria to an international conference in November to try to revive Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.

Shara said the meeting would not succeed without pressure on Israel to withdraw from all the Arab land it occupied in 1967 in exchange for peace, including the Golan.

"Anything else and the meeting will be worthless," he said. "We don't need more photo opportunities."

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