Syria won't go to war with Israel, Kassem says

Syria will not likely go to war with Israel, Hizbullah's deputy chief Sheikh Naim Kassem said in a Saturday interview to a website affiliated with his organization.

"I do not believe the conditions are ripe for a war between Israel and Lebanon or Israel and Syria. It's possible that aberrant developments in general, or events in Iraq, Iran or Palestine in particular, will occur that will effect the atmosphere and cause the conditions to become ripe for war. But it's too early to predict this now," he said.

In response to a question regarding Israel's incursion into Syrian airspace, Kassem responded that he did not possess the necessary information to answer.

"We don't have special information regarding the Israeli incursion into Syrian skies, but we can determine what happened in a certain context: Israel did not report this incursion, rather Syria did.

"In other words, it's possible that Israel wanted to conduct a covert intellgence-gathering mission, perhaps in order to learn more of the nature of Syrian readiness. The Syrian publication embarrassed Israel and demonstrated a high level of preparedness and ability to respond if the Israeli enemy attacks.

"At any rate, this action is considered to be true aggression and demands harsh condemnation from the United Nations Security Council, as well as sanctions against Israel. But, in our opinion, the Security Council will react lightly to this incident," he said.

When asked whether Syria might respond by proxy, using Palestinian groups or the organization in southern Lebanon, Kassem said that "Hizbullah does not intend to open a front against Israel in Lebanon. Rather, they are in a defensive mode.

"Hizbullah never initiated opening a front against Israel and, in this case, such an option is not on the table. Suggestions to this end are merely unsubstantiated commentary by the media. If Syria wants to respond, it has the means to do so," he added.