As reported yesterday from Damascus in the Jordan Times Syrian President Bashar Assad ignored US pressure to cut ties with Lebanon's Hezbollah and expel Palestinian resistance groups Washington regards as ?terrorists?.
In an interview published in the Al Liwaa daily on Monday, he said: ?Syria supports the Lebanese national resistance, including Hezbollah... in resisting Israeli occupation and liberating land, politically and in the media because the brothers in the Lebanese resistance do not need military support from Syria.?
Assad amazingly added that ?[a]s for the Palestinian groups... their work is limited to political and media activities, and their offices in Damascus provide political representation to the 400,000 Palestinians living in Syria and who look to attain their rights and return to their land,? he was quoted as saying.
According to Jordan Times, the remarks were Assad's first public comment on those groups since US President George W. Bush demanded in his Middle East policy speech last week that Syria cut backing for Hezbollah and expel Palestinian resistance [terrorist] groups it hosts.
That publication points out that Damascus hosts 10 Palestinian groups, including the Islamic groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which have carried out a series of suicide attacks on Israelis since the start of the 21-month-old uprising. Damascus also defends and aids Hezbollah.
When asked about Israeli warnings in recent months that the Jewish state would respond to Hezbollah attacks on its troops ?in the words of the Jordan Times, in an occupied area by hitting Syrian targets, Assad told Al Liwaa that Syria would defend itself against any Israeli action.
The Jordanian publication concludes that, ?Israel holds Damascus responsible for attacks by Hezbollah on Israeli posts in the occupied Shebaa Farms on the border between Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and has threatened to respond by hitting Syrian targets. Israel launched air raids twice last year on Syrian army positions in Lebanon [emphasis added] in retaliation for attacks by Hezbollah.?
In an interview published in the Al Liwaa daily on Monday, he said: ?Syria supports the Lebanese national resistance, including Hezbollah... in resisting Israeli occupation and liberating land, politically and in the media because the brothers in the Lebanese resistance do not need military support from Syria.?
Assad amazingly added that ?[a]s for the Palestinian groups... their work is limited to political and media activities, and their offices in Damascus provide political representation to the 400,000 Palestinians living in Syria and who look to attain their rights and return to their land,? he was quoted as saying.
According to Jordan Times, the remarks were Assad's first public comment on those groups since US President George W. Bush demanded in his Middle East policy speech last week that Syria cut backing for Hezbollah and expel Palestinian resistance [terrorist] groups it hosts.
That publication points out that Damascus hosts 10 Palestinian groups, including the Islamic groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which have carried out a series of suicide attacks on Israelis since the start of the 21-month-old uprising. Damascus also defends and aids Hezbollah.
When asked about Israeli warnings in recent months that the Jewish state would respond to Hezbollah attacks on its troops ?in the words of the Jordan Times, in an occupied area by hitting Syrian targets, Assad told Al Liwaa that Syria would defend itself against any Israeli action.
The Jordanian publication concludes that, ?Israel holds Damascus responsible for attacks by Hezbollah on Israeli posts in the occupied Shebaa Farms on the border between Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and has threatened to respond by hitting Syrian targets. Israel launched air raids twice last year on Syrian army positions in Lebanon [emphasis added] in retaliation for attacks by Hezbollah.?