Syria "Fires On Israel Warplanes"
Syria 'fires on Israel warplanes'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6981674.stm
(Gold9472: NOT good.)
9/6/2070
Syria says its air defences have opened fire on Israeli war planes which had entered Syrian airspace overnight.
Israeli planes had "dropped ammunition" over desert areas of Syria, before being forced to leave, according to the official Syrian news agency, SANA.
Israel radio quoted an unnamed Israeli army source as saying no air strike had been carried out, Reuters agency said.
The Syrian news agency says the action took place "without causing human or material loss".
Syria and Israel have remained technically at war since the seizure of the Golan Heights in 1967.
Tensions between Israeli and Syria have been rising in recent months. Both countries' leaders have said they do not want a war, while accusing the other side of arming for a conflict.
Syria says it last fired at Israeli warplanes in June 2006, when Israeli aircraft flew over the summer residence of the Syrian president, while he was inside.
Syria: We fired on IAF jet that violated our airspace, dropped ammo
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/901650.html
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent, and News Agencies
9/6/2007
The Syrian army said Thursday that its air defenses fired on an Israel Air Force warplane that entered Syria airspace and "dropped ammunition," the country's official news agency reported.
The Israel Defense Forces said it would have no comment on the Syrian reports.
"It is not our custom to respond to these kinds of reports," the IDF Spokesman's Office said in a statement.
The Prime Minister's Office said it was looking into the report.
Syrian air defenses fired at the incoming plane, which crossed into Syria after midnight local time, the agency said.
The Syrian Army spokesman, quoted by the official Syrian Arab News Agency, did not say how the military fired on the aircraft, but confirmed that the incident occurred at midnight Wednesday night.
"We warn the Israeli enemy government against this flagrant aggressive act, and retain the right to respond in an appropriate way," the spokesman said.
"The Israeli enemy aircraft infiltrated into the Arab Syrian territory through the northern border, coming from the Mediterranean heading toward the eastern region, breaking the sound barrier," the Syrian spokesman said.
"Air defense units confronted them and forced them to leave after they dropped some ammunition in deserted areas without causing any human or material damage."
Al-Arabiya television reported that the air strike occured in north-eastern Syria, close to the border with Turkey.
A Syrian analyst told Hebzollah's Al-Manar television that the plane was likely dumping ammunition in order to maneuver, and was not carrying out a bombing raid.
The reported incident comes after months of growing tensions along the frontier and concerns that the escalation could result in war. Over the summer, Israeli and Syrian officials have repeatedly made announcements that they had no interest in hostilities.
Security official said late last month, however, that the IDF had decided that war with Syria is unlikely and was reducing its troop presence in the Golan Heights after months of cross-border tension.
The Israeli officials said recently that Syria's military had also reduced its war readiness, but offered no details as the exact steps taken by the Syrians are classified. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to divulge the information to the press.
In an interview Sunday night with Haaretz, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he saw no reason for any forthcoming military conflict between Israel and Syria.
Israel Keeps Up Blackout On Mystery Syria Air Strike
Israel keeps up blackout on mystery Syria air strike
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5...qeK3M8io5yc9zw
9/12/2007
JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel on Wednesday maintained an official blackout on an apparent strike by its warplanes on Syria, amid reports that the mysterious attack targeted weapons financed by arch-foe Iran.
No official Israeli comment was issued on allegations that its military carried out an attack deep inside Syria last Thursday, despite confirmation of a strike by a defence official of Israel's main ally the United States.
Citing anonymous Israeli sources, an Arab Israeli newspaper, the Assennara, said on Wednesday that the jets "bombed in northern Syria a Syrian-Iranian missile base financed by Iran.... It appears that the base was completely destroyed."
The previous day CNN reported that the strike, which could also have involved the use of ground forces, was believed to have targeted weapons either coming into Syria or moving through Syria from Iran to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, Lebanon's Shiite militia that Israel fought in a war last year.
The New York Times also reported on Wednesday that Israel thinks Syria and Iran are buying nuclear material from North Korea and had recently carried out reconnaissance flights over Syria, taking pictures of possible nuclear installations.
A US administration official said Israeli officials believe that North Korea might be unloading some of its nuclear material on Syria, the newspaper said.
"The Israelis think North Korea is selling to Iran and Syria what little they have left," the unidentified official was quoted as saying.
Syria on Tuesday lodged a formal complaint with the United Nations over the "flagrant violation" of its airspace in the early hours of September 6, when it said its air defences opened fire on Israeli warplanes flying over the northeast of the country.
Earlier a US defence official said that Israel had carried out an air strike as a warning to Damascus.
"It wasn't big. It was a quick strike. They were engaged by the Syrians, they dropped their ordnance and scooted out of there," said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
He said he did not know the target of the strike, but said the US military believed it was aimed at sending a message to the Syrians over their support for Hezbollah.
"The Israelis are trying to tell the Syrians: 'Don't support a resurgence of Hezbollah in Lebanon'."
Israeli officials have refused to comment on the report, as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert "specifically instructed ministers not to talk about the incident related to Syria at all," a senior Israeli government official told AFP earlier this week.
This silence -- uncharacteristic in a nation notorious for media leaks -- continued on Wednesday, with even visiting French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner saying he was also being kept in the dark.
"I asked my hosts and they did not inform me," Kouchner told reporters in Jerusalem when asked about the reported strike, as he wrapped up his first visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories.
"If indeed... they have bombed a weapons convoy which was headed to Lebanon, we understand why they would do it," he said. "Everybody in Lebanon knows that large quantities of weapons arrive from the Syrian border."
Olmert bypassed his traditional interviews with Israeli newspapers ahead of the Jewish New Year that starts at sundown on Wednesday, leaving President Shimon Peres to mention Syria in only general terms.
"The central problem with Syria is Lebanon -- the question is to know whether Lebanon will be Lebanese or Iranian," Peres told public television. "The Syrians support Hezbollah and provide them with arms. As long as they continue on this route there will be tension in the air."
And Sylvan Shalom, a former foreign minister, told army radio: "Syria should draw the lessons from what happened and change its attitude to avoid being completely in the hands of Iran."