Syria Rachets Up Its War Rhetoric Against Israel

UNITED NATIONS – Syria is racheting up its war rhetoric, declaring it will have quick but unspecified "series of responses" to what it said was an infringement of its air space last week by Israel, while Jerusalem stuck to its uncharacteristic policy of not addressing the incident.

In an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, President Assad's deputy, Farouk a-Shara, also accused America of using "vague" peace maneuvering in an attempt by the Bush administration to deflect attention from its shortcomings in Iraq.

"I can say now that in Damascus a series of responses is being examined at the highest political and military levels. The results will not take long in coming," Mr. a-Shara told the Italian newspaper. As Syrian officials did earlier in the crisis, he did not say whether the responses might be military.

In addition to the Syrian official response, the Arab League's secretary general, Amre Moussa, and Egyptian officials denounced the Israeli alleged action. Jerusalem's ally Turkey, a NATO member, demanded an explanation.

Mr. Moussa called the allegations by Damascus that Israeli aircrafts were shot at over the northern part of Syria, near the Turkish border Thursday night, "unacceptable maneuvers." The Israeli "violations only add to tension in the region at a time when there is a need for all sides to work toward calm," the Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement.

The Syrian statement last week said that after being shot at, the Israeli aircraft dropped some cargo on the ground, at first identifying it as ordinance and later saying it might have been fuel tanks, which were dropped as the aircrafts were attempting to speed up their escape. Yesterday, Turkey reported finding two fuel tanks in its territory, near the Syrian border, according to Reuters. The agency quoted an unidentified Ankara source as saying the Turkish government asked for clarification.

On Friday, Israel's minister for science, culture technology, and sports, Ghaleb Majadle, told a local Arab newspaper, a-Sinara, that Israel routinely flies over Syria and that he did not believe the incident would lead to a Syrian military response. While he had no specific information, Mr. Majadle, the only Arab cabinet minister in Prime Minister Olmert's government, said it was likely that "the planes either entered Syrian airspace to take photographs or in error."

That was the only comment made by an Israeli official. According to Israeli press reports, Mr. Olmert told his cabinet ministers to refrain from straying from the comments made on Thursday by Israel's Defense Force spokesman, who said the army does not comment on military operations. Mr. Olmert also canceled a briefing routinely made by Defense Minister Ehud Barak during Sunday's weekly cabinet meeting.

Like Israel, America refrained so far from commenting on the alleged incident, which happened as Washington is preparing a gathering of Arab countries and Israel, anticipated in November. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and other countries are expected to attend.

It is not clear whether Syria would be invited to the Washington gathering. Arab countries, including Syria, are expected to join a gathering at the United Nations on September 23 of the so-called "quartet" – America, the U.N., Russia, and the European Union. Israeli and Palestinian Arab officials are not invited to the event, which will take place on the holy Jewish day of atonement, Yom Kippur.

Alongside reports of behind the scenes peace overtures made between Syria and Israel, the two countries have increased their military presence along their shared border all summer. Last week, Israeli officials accused Russia of instigating the tensions by telling Damascus that Israel was preparing war against Syria. Russia has been beefing up Syria's missile and air defense systems and, according to published reports, has been building a base for its eastern Mediterranean-based fleet in the area where the Thursday incident allegedly occurred.

Mr. A Shara dismissed any peace openings toward Israel under Washington's auspices, telling la Repubblica that the American initiative is "vague" and that "parameters for an agreement, a list of the countries invited, and even the date, are missing." The risk in attending the Washington gathering, he said, was that America "will reduce the conference to a photo opportunity to detract attention away from Iraq."