"If we are attacked again our people will not stand for it and we have to carry out the will of the people," Sharaa

LONDON, October 26 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - In a new escalation of the war of word between Damascus and Tel Aviv, Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq Al-Sharaa threatened retaliating any future Israeli aggression by attacking Israeli settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.

In an interview with the British Sunday Telegraph, the top diplomat recalled that after the Israeli air strike "deep inside Syrian territories, Damascus "acted in a responsible way and went to the U.N. and a majority of our people supported that."

On October 5, Israeli aircraft bombed what Tel Aviv claimed was a training camp used by Palestinian resistance fighters, while Syria maintained it was a civilian site.

But, he threatened, "if we are attacked again our people will not stand for it and we have to carry out the will of the people."

"We have many cards that we have not played. Don't forget there are many Israeli settlements in the Golan. I am not exaggerating but I am describing things as they might happen."

Israel occupied the Syrian Golan Heights in 1967 and annexed the area in 1981, claiming that Syria had used it as a base for attacking Israel.

More than 14,000 Jews live on the Golan and the slopes of Mount Hermon, according to the British newspaper.

Sunday Telegraph quoted one Western diplomat as saying it was feasible that Syria could retaliate another Israeli attack by targeting Israeli settlements in the Golan, warning that such a move would "up the ante to a dangerous level."

Shortly after the air strike, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accused Israel of warmongering and trying to drag the Middle East region into war.

"It is an attempt by the Israeli government to extract itself from its big crisis by trying to terrorize Syria and drag it and the region into other wars."

The Syrian leader said Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon "lives by and for war, and there is not a person in the world who believes peace is possible with such a government."

On Thursday, local press quoted Syrian Chief-of-Staff General Hassan Turkmani as saying that "Syria did not retaliate to the Israeli raid, but is fully capable of deterring Israel and of putting an end to its bellicose adventures."

Since the Israeli raid, the top brass has twice called on the military to stand "ready to respond" to any Israeli attack.

Border Control

Sharaa also told Sunday Telegraph that Syria was exerting all possible efforts to control its borders and prevent people from crossing to fight American occupation forces in Iraq.

"We are doing everything we can. We have tightened our checkpoints and are turning people back. But the border is long and we cannot cover it all."

"They are very determined and many of them dream of seeing an American tank," Sharaa said.

"If America, a rich superpower, cannot stop Mexicans crossing into the United States, then how can we, a poor country, be expected to stop Palestinians getting into Iraq?" he added.

Offices Closed

In the interview, Syria's top diplomat reaffirmed the closure of Islamic Jihad, Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command offices.

A visit by The Telegraph to the groups' offices in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp, five miles from central Damascus, confirmed that the offices had been closed.