Assad Supporters Rally After Israeli Airstrike

Jim Hollander/European Pressphoto Agency

In East Jerusalem, Israelis distributed gas masks on Wednesday as worries about security spread.
By ISABEL KERSHNER and MICHAEL R. GORDON

JERUSALEM Supporters of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria on Thursday condemned a strike by Israeli warplanes near the Syrian capital, Damascus, saying they rejected foreign intervention in the countrys civil war and offering support in varying degrees for its leader. Iran, Mr. Assads closest regional backer, warned of grave consequences after the attack.

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The New York Times

Denying reports, Syria said Israeli jets had hit a defense research facility in Jimraya. American officials said they believed that the target of the attack on Wednesday was a convoy carrying sophisticated antiaircraft weaponry on the outskirts of Damascus that was intended for Hezbollah in Lebanon. In a statement, the Syrian military denied that a convoy had been struck. It said the attack had hit a scientific research facility in the Damascus suburbs that was used to improve Syrias defenses, and called the attack a flagrant breach of Syrian sovereignty and airspace. The reactions from Iran, Russia, Lebanon and the Shiite militant Hezbollah group highlighted the regional and diplomatic stakes of the war in Syria. According to the Fars news agency, Hoseyn Amir-Abdollahian, Irans deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs, said: Israels attack on the suburbs of Damascus will lead to grave consequences for Tel Aviv. He did not detail what he meant. But he said Israel should not have confidence in its antimissile defense system because this system proved to be useless during last Decembers conflict in Gaza, when Palestinians fired rockets that reached the outskirts of Tel Aviv. Russia, which has carried out a vigorous diplomatic battle to deter foreign military intervention in the Syrian conflict for more than a year, issued a statement of concern early on Thursday, describing the strikes as an attack by Israels air force on objects in Syria, near Damascus. If this information is confirmed, this is an unprovoked attack on the territory of a sovereign nation, which blatantly violates the U.N. charter and is unacceptable and unjustified whatever its motives, said a statement posted on the Web site of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
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Moscow said it would take immediate steps to clarify what had happened, and reiterated its longstanding insistence on a political solution and the unacceptability of any kind of external intervention. The Russian foreign ministry did not comment specifically on the accusations that the target was a convoy carrying antiaircraft weapons. Speaking about the airstrikes, Aleksandr K. Lukashevich, a foreign ministry spokesman, said at a briefing later on Thursday: We are analyzing all the information that is available, and if it is confirmed then our main conclusion is that it is a very serious violation of the U.N. charter, an unacceptable act against a sovereign nation. But again, on the details, we are gathering information in order to present a fuller picture. When asked again about whether the target was a convoy, he said: Our statement refers to the attack of Israeli air force on a Syrian facility near Damascus, we are checking this information. There are many assertions around in the international press. I have seen this statement, but we have no information about this from our American partners. I know for sure that Israeli side warned Washington, and there was a public announcement by the vice prime minister also made it clear that they would take military action if necessary. In Beirut, the Hezbollah also condemned the attack and offered support. Hezbollah expresses its full solidarity with Syrias leadership, army and people, it said in a statement. Lebanons minister of foreign affairs, Adnan Mansour, said the Israelis attacked a research center, calling it flagrant aggression. Iran, which has firmly allied itself with Mr. Assad, sending personnel from its Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. to Syria and ferrying military equipment to Syria through Iraqi airspace, said in a statement through its foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi: There is no doubt that this was an overt assault based on the Wests policy, and the Zionists got ahead of themselves in trying to cover up the successes of the Syrian government and nation in maintaining the existing government and restoring stability and security, the Iranian Students News Agency quoted Mr. Salehi as saying. The attack reveals and proves the rightfulness of the government and nation of Syria in supporting Hamas and their enmity with Zionists, and it also shows that the terrorist groups are aligned with Zionists goal in undermining stability and calmness in the country, Mr. Salehi said. The American officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity on Wednesday, said Israel had notified the United States about the attack, which the Syrian government condemned as an act of arrogance and aggression. Israels move demonstrated its determination to ensure that Hezbollah its arch foe in the north is unable to take advantage of the chaos in Syria to bolster its arsenal significantly.

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