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President Assad accuses Israel of destabilising Syria | President Assad accuses Israel of destabilising Syria |
(35 minutes later) | |
Syria's embattled President Bashar al-Assad has accused Israel of trying to "destabilise" his country. | Syria's embattled President Bashar al-Assad has accused Israel of trying to "destabilise" his country. |
It was his first remarks on last week's reported Israeli air strike in Syria. | |
Syrian TV has shown images of the raid Damascus says Israeli jets carried out on a military research centre in Jamraya last Wednesday. | |
US officials said the air strike targeted a weapons convoy bound for Lebanon. The Israeli defence minister has hinted his country was responsible. | |
Ehud Barak told a security conference in Germany on Sunday that the strike was "proof that when we say something we mean it". | |
"We don't think [Syria] should be allowed to bring advanced weapons systems into Lebanon," he told the meeting of top international diplomats and defence officials. | |
'Bombardment' | |
President Assad said in a meeting with a top Iranian official in Damascus on Sunday that last Wednesday's raid "unmasked the true role Israel is playing... to destabilise and weaken Syria". | |
But he said his country's military was able to confront "current threats... and aggression". | |
Syria's state al-Ikhbariya television showed what it said was the aftermath of the air strike at the research centre at Jamraya, north-east of Damascus. Footage of damaged buildings and burnt out cars was combined with accounts from witnesses. | |
One said he broke his shoulder and suffered hand and leg injuries. "When the bombardment ended I tried to help the people who were injured," he was quoted as saying. | |
But a US official told the BBC last week that the target was a convoy carrying SA-17 surface-to-air missiles. | |
Israel has repeatedly warned of the danger that Syria's chemical weapons could fall into the hands of Lebanon's Hezbollah. | |
Correspondents say Israel is also concerned the Shia militant group could obtain anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, thus strengthening its ability to respond to Israeli air strikes. | |
The White House last week also warned Syria against giving weapons to Hezbollah. | |
The latest developments come amid a vicious 22-month conflict between the Assad government and opposition rebels that has killed more than 60,000 people in Syria. |