DAMASCUS, Syria, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Tuesday Israel is trying to provoke his nation and the entire Middle East area into a wider conflict.
The New York Times said Assad, speaking for the first time about an Israeli air raid near Damascus during the weekend, told the London-based Arab daily newspaper Al Hayat the attack was "an attempt by the Israeli government to extract itself from its big crisis by trying to terrorize Syria and drag it and the region into other wars."
Israel accused Syria of using the camp to train terrorists from Islamic Jihad, a militant group that claimed responsibility for Saturday's suicide bombing in Haifa that killed 19 Israelis.
The Times said Assad again refused to expel officials from terrorist groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad. He told Al Hayat, "We refused for several reasons, primarily because these people did not break Syrian laws and have not harmed Syrian interests and are not terrorists."
