Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi should close down the Israeli embassy in Egypt and not the Syrian one, a Syrian minister said on Sunday.
Omran Zoubi, Syria’s Information Minister, was responding to Morsi’s announcement from Saturday that Egypt was cutting diplomatic ties with Damascus and has ordered Syria's embassy in Cairo to be closed.
Morsi also urged world powers to enforce a no-fly zone over Syria.
"We would have expected Morsi to announce he is closing the Israeli embassy in Egypt, but these are the ways of a leader who refuses to accept such positions," Zoubi said on Sunday, adding that “the heretic project taking place in Egypt is part of the Zionist project.”
A Syrian official source quoted by the Xinhua news agency slammed Morsi’s decision as "irresponsible," adding that his calls for foreign intervention and imposing a no fly zone on Syria constitute an infringement upon the region's sovereignty and serve only the interests of Israel and the United States.
"We condemn Morsi's irresponsible stance that mirrors his attempt to implement the agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood," the Syrian source said, scoffing that Morsi should have saved his "enthusiasm" to the time when he boycotts Israel “that is still killing Palestinians.”
Egypt sides with the Islamist rebels who are trying to topple Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. Morsi is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, whose offshoot movement, Hamas, has already been removed from Damascus due to its support for the rebels.