Syria today denied it had any involvement in the Tel Aviv nightclub suicide bombing which killed four people on Friday night. Israel said earlier it would attack Syrian targets if necessary, following the attack.
A Syrian foreign ministry official said: "Syria has been supporting the efforts of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in creating an environment that would allow for peace and the creation of a Palestinian state and we will continue to do so.
"This operation harms the efforts of the Palestinians (for peace) and gives Israel a pretext to bash the peace process ... it contradicts Syrian policy," the official said.
The Israeli threat came from deputy defence minister Mr Zeev Boim, who said Israel would attack Syrian targets if it felt that was the way to stop attacks originating in Damascus. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility yesterday for the bombing.
Mr Boim said an Israeli attack would "send a message to (Syrian president Bashar) Assad" that he must clamp down on Islamic groups based in Damascus.
Prime minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, said orders to carry out the bombing came from Islamic Jihad leaders in Damascus.
"We know this for a fact," he said, but added: "We cannot release the Palestinian Authority from its responsibility for the terrorist being unleashed".
Vice premier Mr Shimon Peres said the United States was currently leading "an initiative" against Syria and Israel had to allow it to do so.
In 2003, Israeli warplanes bombed a Damascus-area Jihad base in retaliation for a suicide bombing that killed 19 people at a restaurant in Haifa.
Last September, a leader of the militant Islamic Hamas group was assassinated in Damascus, with Israeli officials tacitly acknowledging involvement in the killing.
In August 2003, Israel sent a clear warning to Mr Assad when its warplanes flew low over his summer palace in Latakia while he was on holiday there.
The jets reportedly flew so low that windows in the palace shattered.
Agencies