Posted on 02/22/2007 9:31:37 AM PST by Freeport
Responding to a Haaretz report that Syria is boosting its army and moving troops closer to its border with Israel, Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Thursday that Israel should refrain from making further statements regarding Syria, and urged officials to avoid a verbal escalation of tensions.
Speaking at his weekly meeting with Defense Ministry officials, Peretz said that the situation would be assessed based on concrete information, and that the army would prepare itself as necessary.
Earlier Thursday, Israel Radio quoting Syrian parliament member Mohammed Habash as denying the Haaretz report. According to the radio, Habash told the Dubai-based Al Arabiya satellite channel that nothing has changed in terms of troop size along the border, but "Syria is fully prepared for any situation [that may develop]."
Habash warned that should "Israel decide to do something stupid, it would pay a heavy price."
Addressing the charge that Syria's military buildup is being funded by Iran, the radio quoted Habash as saying that the "cooperation between Damascus and Tehran is no secret, as both are being faced with a direct threat."
The Syrian armed forces are being strengthened in an unprecedented way in recent memory with the help of generous funding from Iran and its troops appear to be moving closer to the border with Israel.
(Excerpt) Read more at haaretz.com ...
High volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel, WOT
..................
"Shut up and bomb away."
But this is Peretz we're talking about.
Tehran is cooking something up for this Spring.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.