MIDDLE EAST: Israel launched a diplomatic offensive against Damascus yesterday to lobby for international backing for its accusations of Syrian links to a Palestinian suicide bombing that killed five Israelis.
The campaign, focusing on European countries and UN Security Council members, aims to pile pressure on Syria, already under fire from Washington after former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri was killed by a bomb in Beirut.
Israel has pointed the finger at Damascus, saying Syria-based leaders of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad ordered the bombing and the Syrian government therefore shared responsibility for giving them shelter.
Syrian president Bashar al-Assad dismissed Israel's accusation as "pointlessly offensive" and denied any role in the attack, which shattered a February 8th truce declared by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon.
"What we are doing is trying in every capital of the world . . . to show them the direct links from Syria to Islamic Jihad, which has a direct connection to what we saw on Friday evening in Tel Aviv," said Ron Prosor, director general of Israel's foreign ministry.
Prosor and military intelligence chiefs met foreign ambassadors in Jerusalem to make Israel's case. Similar presentations were scheduled for Washington, London and Paris. - (Reuters)