An emergency meeting of the Arab League ministerial council will be held Saturday, following a request by Lebanon and Syria, to discuss the recent Israeli strike on a Syrian military position in Lebanon, a League source said Tuesday, cited by AFP.
Cairo-based delegates of the 22-member organization will attend, the same source added.
SYRIAN PRESIDENT SAYS ISRAEL WILL HAVE TO ACCEPT CONSEQUENCES OF RAID
Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad warned Israel on Tuesday that it would bear the consequences of the deadly raid it carried out on Syrian targets in Lebanon.
"Israel alone will bear the expense of its aggressive actions in the region", he said in a phone conversation with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, reported Syria's official SANA news agency.
Assad told Annan "the situation in the region is extremely complicated and important efforts should be made to meet the demands of Arab peoples."
The Syrian President also received on Tuesday a phone call from Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdel-Aziz who condemned the Israeli raid in Lebanon which killed at least one Syrian soldier.
"Talks dealt with the Israeli aggression against the Syrian Forces in Lebanon and Abdel-Aziz voiced Saudi Arabia's condemnation of the raid," said SANA.
SYRIA DEPLORES AMERICA'S 'TOTAL ALIGNMENT' WITH ISRAEL
Syria deplores the United States' "total alignment" with Israel, which "directly or indirectly encourages (Israeli) aggression", Syrian Information Minister Adnan Omran said Tuesday, cited by AFP.
"We are sorry to see the (United States') position totally aligned with Israel, which directly or indirectly amounts to encouraging Israel on its path of extremism and refusal of international peace efforts," Omran told Radio Monte Carlo.
"The American position is interpreted by Israel and (its prime minister Ariel) Sharon as a green light for continued aggression and occupation", he added.
"When the United States describes events in the region as violence and counter-violence, its means that they think George Washington, who led the American independence movement against British occupation, was carrying out acts of violence in response to (British) violence.
"This means that he who fights against occupation is equated with the occupying force. We do not subscribe to this point of view", Omran said, adding it was the US duty to force Israel to respect international law - Albawaba.com
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