Syria's defence minister said on Monday that the army would succeed against rebels trying to overthrow president Bashar al-Assad, and hinted that Syria would not respond to an Israeli airstrike near Damascus last week.
"This heroic Syrian Arab army proved to the world that it is a strong army, a trained army, an army that cannot be broken," Fahed al-Freij told state television.
He portrayed the air raid as a response to the failure of the rebels, who he described as "tools" of Israel.
Diplomats and security sources have said the strike targeted a convoy of weapons destined for Hezbollah in neighbouring Lebanon. But Syria has said Israeli planes struck a military research centre at Jamraya, northwest of Damascus.
"Why does Syria not respond? It's the Israeli enemy which responded ... When the Israeli enemy saw that its tools were being pursued, and they did not achieve their results, it intervened," Freij said.
"It is a response to our military work against the armed gangs," he added, referring to the rebels.
'Gaps in radar coverage'
more here:
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/02/201324224017277233.html
Subject: Syria defence minister: Army will beat rebels 
Mon Feb 04, 2013 9:03 pm
