Syria's military is recruiting 300 thousand reserve soldiers due to recent tensions with Israel, the New York Times reported, citing a diplomat and former General in the Syrian Air Force. The political analyst, Haitham Kilani, a retired diplomat and air force general, put the number summoned so far at 300,000 of 1.5 million reservists.
Last week, Israeli warplanes bombed a suspected camp near Damascus, in the deepest Israeli strike on Syrian soil in three decades.
Meanwhile, citing unnamed Israeli officials, Tel-Aviv based Ma'ariv daily reported Tuesday that the Syrian "recruitment" of reserve soldiers served merely as "psychological warfare" against the Jewish state.
Furthermore, the daily said that Israel believes there was no mobilization of forces in Syria, but only a deployment of troops. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
