Damascus - The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned
on Wednesday the US charge d'affaires in protest at a military raid
on Syria, Syrian news agency SANA reported.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry said it was waiting for clarification
from the Iraqi and US governments on the raid that killed eight
people near Syria's border with Iraq. Syria called the raid
'unacceptable for Syria's sovereignty' and said it could take
measures in response. No further details were given.
Syrian officials summoned charge d'affaires Maura Connelly to
inform her of the closing of a US school and a cultural institution
the day before.
Meanwhile, diplomatic sources in the US embassy in Syria stated
that they did not receive any official document that confirms the
closing of the American Cultural Center and the American School.
Sunday's raid which the US said targeted an al-Qaeda leader in
Syria has been condemned by a number of Arab states and Iran, which
fears that the US would use Iraq as a base for attacks on neighboring
countries.
Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, general secretary of the Organization of
Islamic Conference, on Wednesday also condemned the US attack in a
declaration from OIC headquarters in Jeddah.
Ihsanoglu held the US responsible for the deaths of innocent
civilians in the helicopter-borne commando raid. Syria's state-run
media said eight civilians, including four children, were killed in
the raid.
The incident has meanwhile further increased tensions between
Syria - an ally of Iran - and Saudi Arabia as Damascus has taken
offense to Riyadh having not yet condemned the attack.
'Those who in their palaces have remained silent, these we will
forget, just as they will be forgotten by history,' wrote Syria's
state-run al-Thawra newspaper on Wednesday.
Another Syrian state-run daily, Tishrin, warned Arab states such
as Saudi Arabia that are allied to the United States 'that the US has
only a single friend in the region, and that is Israel.'
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