Zohir Jabor, Syria's top ranking diplomat in the United States, was summoned Monday to the State Department for a reprimand over reports that the Damascus government had sent arms to Hizbullah terrorists in Lebanon, including Scud missiles. A department statement used the words "provocative behavior" to describe the shipments, adding that it was the fourth time in recent months that the issue has been raised with the Syrian embassy.
The statement stopped short of confirming the reports, which Syria has denied, but a senior U.S. official told Reuters that it was a sign that the allegations were being taken seriously, explaining, "We wouldn't have called them in if we didn't think something was going on."