BICOM

Syria’s President Assad spoke publicly for the first time yesterday following air strikes over the weekend, which struck Syrian military installations near Damascus and are widely thought to have been carried out by Israel. The operation appeared to target sophisticated Iranian weaponry being transferred to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Speaking after a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, Assad alleged that Israel is colluding in Syria’s bloody two-year conflict, saying “the latest Israeli assault reveals the level of involvement the Israeli occupier, Western countries and their supports have in the events in Syria.” Assad then pledged, “the Syrian people and its brave army, which have registered important victories in its battle against the terrorist and infidel gangs, are fully capable of dealing with Israel’s adventurism.” Salehi also took aim at Israel saying, “It is time to deter the Israeli occupiers from carrying out these aggressions against the peoples of the region.”

Meanwhile, the Syrian-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP) yesterday claimed that Assad has given them permission to attack Israel. Anwar Raja, a spokesman for the PFLP, classified as a terrorist group by the UK, United States and European Union, said yesterday “Syria has given the green light to set up missile batteries to directly attack Israeli targets.”

In another development, four United Nations (UN) peacekeepers were abducted in the Syrian sector of the Golan Heights by the opposition group Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade, which claimed that the UN personnel had been seized for their own protection. Meanwhile, in Moscow yesterday, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced plans to convene to convene an international conference on Syria possibly at the end of the month, which will aim to find a peaceful solution to the conflict.