BEIRUT, February 3 (RIA Novosti) – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Sunday the Israeli air strike on a military research center near Damascus aimed at destabilizing his country.
“This aggression exposes the real role being undertaken by Israel in collaboration with hostile external powers and their tools on the Syrian land to destabilize Syria and weaken it,” state-run SANA news agency quoted Assad as saying.
The Syrian leader made the statement at the meeting with Iran's Supreme National Security Council secretary, Saeed Jalili, in Damascus, the agency said.
Earlier on Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, said at the meeting of the world’s top diplomats in Munich the incident is proof that when "we say something, we mean it".
The Israeli air strike hit the Jamraya military research center northwest of the capital Damascus on Wednesday. Syrian state TV said two people were killed and five injured in the air strike. The building was seriously damaged.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry sent a letter to the UN Security Council earlier this week asking the organization to condemn the attack.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement it is “deeply concerned” over the incident which would constitute a violation of fundamental United Nations principles.
