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  • U.S. officials confirm IAF strike in Syria

    Last update - 19:50 12/09/2007
    Report: U.S. officials confirm IAF strike in Syria

    By Barak Ravid, Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents and News Agencies

    Reuters reported Wednesday that U.S. officials had confirmed that the Israel Air Force launched air strikes against Syria last week, but would not discuss the intended targets.

    "The strike I can confirm. The target, I can't," said one U.S. official, adding that there had been more than one strike. Another official called reports on the likely targets "confused."

    While Israel remained silent, media reports began surfacing Tuesday of U.S. officials confirming the Israel Air Force had indeed carried out an air strike last Thursday. The New York Times said Wednesday that likely targets were weapons caches Israel believed Iran was sending to Hezbollah via Syria.

    The New York Times quoted a Defense Department official as saying the IAF struck at least one target in northeastern Syria, but said it was unclear what the target was and what was the extent of the damage.

    Syria has protested to the United Nations about the strike on its territory, but has also said nothing was hit and there was no damage.

    Israeli officials have repeatedly declined to comment on the claims, however the CNN television network reported Tuesday that the Israeli government is "very happy with the successful operation."

    Senior CNN correspondent Christiane Amanpour, citing Middle Eastern and Washington sources, said aircraft and possibly even ground forces, who may have directed the planes to their target, took part in the operation.

    The attack left "a big hole in the desert," the report said. CNN quoted U.S. government and military sources as saying they were "happy to have Israel convey to both Syria and Iran the message that they can get in and out and strike when necessary."

    Report: U.S. says Israel took images of Syria atomic facility


    The New York Times on Wednesday quoted a Bush Administration official as saying Israel recently photographed possible nuclear installations in Syria.

    "One Bush administration official said Israel had recently carried out reconnaissance flights over Syria, taking pictures of possible nuclear installations that Israeli officials believed might have been supplied with material from North Korea," the paper wrote. "The administration official said Israeli officials believed that North Korea might be unloading some of its nuclear material on Syria"

    "The Israelis think North Korea is selling to Iran and Syria what little they have left," the New York Times quoted the official as saying.

    Israel possibly targeted weapons intended for delivery to Hezbollah inside Syria a week ago, CNN quoted the sources as saying.

    Also Wednesday, a Lebanese minister said his country experienced communications disruptions following the IAF incursion.

    Lebanon's Communications Minister Marwan Hamadeh told Al-Mustaqbal television that, following an extensive inquiry with cellular telephone companies and the Lebanese military, it was determined that the disruptions were caused by satellites and from sources out at sea.

    Hamadeh did not go into further details regarding the source of the disruptions, but said that communications all but returned to normal after about five days.


    Syria's UN envoy: Our response has not yet come

    Meanwhile, Syria's envoy to the United Nations said Wednesday that Damascus was reserving the right to determine the timing and manner of its response to the alleged air strike.

    "The Syrian response has not yet come," said Bashar al-Jaafari, in an interview with BBC Arabic.

    On Tuesday, Syria complained to the UN about "aggression and violation of sovereignty," al-Jaafari said.

    The ambassador said Damascus made its complaint in two letters to the UN secretary general and the president of the Security Council. The letters said the Israel Air Force action violated the 1974 disengagement agreement that was reached after the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

    Al-Jaafari said Israel had violated Syrian air space and dropped munitions. But he denied that Israel had landed troops on the ground inside Syria.

    "This is absolutely not true," he said, adding the reports were an attempt to show that Israel could land troops wherever it wants.

    The only countries that have expressed solidarity with Syria are Iran and North Korea. Russia issued a condemnation of sorts.

    Report: U.S. officials confirm IAF strike in Syria - Haaretz - Israel News
    One more headache for the US and the world!

    Syria on the way to have its nuclear bomb, unless of course the facility has been wiped out!

    The Middle East is really turning out to be a conundrum!

    Egypt has put its democratic reforms on hold, Lebanon is a tinderbox since the Hezbollah is asserting itself, both militarily and politically and the present govt watches impotently as does the UN forces.Syria and Iran on their way to nuclearisation. Iraq veering towards a catastrophe with Iran playing a greater role through it Shia surrogates, Maliki and Al Sadr while the Arab Sunni nations chip in at Anbar, which is but an eye of a tornado. And Kurdistan is flexing to show its muscle with Turkey standing by in the wings to cut it down to size.

    Quo VAdis, Middle East and what could be the way to bring stability?


    "Some have learnt many Tricks of sly Evasion, Instead of Truth they use Equivocation, And eke it out with mental Reservation, Which is to good Men an Abomination."

    I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to.

    HAKUNA MATATA

  • #2
    Ahem!

    :)) Told you so
    Where's the bloody gin? An army marches on its liver, not its ruddy stomach.

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