Arab World reacts with shock, rage at US attack in Syria (Roundup)

Oct 27, 2008, 15:53 GMT

Damascus/Cairo - Officials across the Arab World reacted with shock and outrage Monday at a US military raid that reportedly killed eight people - allegedly including children - in a small Syrian town Sunday.

The United States made no immediate official comment. A helicopter-borne commando raid was reported to have attacked the Syrian town of Abu Kamal, eight kilometres from the Iraqi border.

The US silence was met with increasing outrage from regional leaders, with the strongest statements coming from Syria.

'We consider this an act of criminal and terrorist aggression,' said Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem. The fact that the attack occurred in broad daylight showed that it was deliberate, he added.

It was unclear Monday whether US forces had knowingly crossed over into Syria. The Syrian state-run SANA news agency reported that the victims included a married couple and their four children.

Al-Muallem called for the United States and Iraq to investigate the incident and report back to Syria. He also reminded the United States of the Syrian government's opposition to al-Qaeda.

The Iraqi government on Monday said it was talking to US officials about the raid and expressed hope that the attack would not hurt Iraqi ties to Syria.

Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh has referenced an unsourced US statement that said the raid targeted a haven for a militant group which used to execute deadly attacks inside Iraq.

But the reaction seemed to at least dent relations between Iraq and the United States.

'The US forces violated the Iraqi constitution when it bombed houses inside the Syrian soil from the Iraqi territory,' Iraqi lawmaker Osama Najifi told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, noting laws that ban the use of Iraqi territory as the launching point for attacks on neighbouring countries.

And at the site of the attack, villagers burned US flags and chanted anti-US slogans at a funeral for the eight victims.

Criticism also poured in from Lebanon, where the attack was denounced by both the president and prime minister.

'The raid by US helicopters on Syrian territory ... constitutes a violation of Syrian sovereignty and thus is a dangerous, unacceptable attack that we condemn,' read a statement from Prime Minister Gouad Seniora. 'Any military attack against an Arab country or on a small country by a larger country is an act we reject,' the statement added.

Similarly, Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa called the raid 'a violation of Syrian sovereignty' and called for an investigation to find out who was responsible for the attack.

Russia, which has a military cooperation agreement with Syria, also voiced its objection, expressing 'great concern' and noting that such unilateral actions could only increase regional tensions.