Syria says Israel aims to torpedo peace

By Evelyn Leopold

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Syria's U.N. ambassador said on Wednesday that Israel's motive in flying warplanes into its airspace was to torpedo the peace process, but he did not make a specific request for the U.N. Security Council to meet.

Israel has refused to comment on the air strikes on September 6 but U.S. officials have confirmed them. Analysts say likely targets were weapons caches Iran may have sent through Syria for Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas.

Syrian Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari warned the Security Council and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in letters on Tuesday, of consequences for the region and denounced Israel for a "flagrant defiance of international law.

"We think the Israeli purpose behind such an aggressive act is to torpedo the peace process, to torpedo the idea of holding an international conference," Ja'afari told reporters.

"So the issue in itself might not be a pure military one but having a very important diplomatic and political background," he added.

Asked why he did not call for a Security Council meeting, Ja'afari said it was not his job to do so. Instead he said he wanted to inform the 15-member body about Israel's action so they could "assume their responsibility in the maintenance of peace and security."

"If they don't act appropriately, then it would be a jungle law and there would be no need for the Security Council. "

But the usual procedure for a council reaction is a request from the secretary-general or any U.N. member nation, and none has yet emerged. "If Syria had wanted a reaction of the council, they would have said so in a letter," a council member said.