Iraq 'Rejects' Deadly Helicopter Attack on Eastern Syria
By VOA News
28 October 2008
The Iraqi government has criticized Sunday's helicopter raid on eastern Syria that Damascus blames on U.S. forces.
An Iraqi government spokesman said Baghdad "rejects" the raid. He added that Iraq does not want its territory to be used for attacks on neighboring countries.
It was Iraq's first official criticism of Sunday's attack.
Syria says four helicopters carried U.S. troops on a cross-border attack that killed eight civilians.
The Syrian government has already lodged an official protest with the U.S. Tuesday, it ordered the closure of an American school and an American cultural center in Damascus.
The U.S. government has refused comment on the raid - but one U.S. official, speaking anonymously, said the attack is believed to have killed the head of a network smuggling weapons and foreign fighters into Iraq.
While criticizing the raid, the Iraqi spokesman also called on Damascus to crack down on insurgents who use Syria as a base to train and launch attacks on Iraq.
Baghdad has said that Sunday's helicopter raid targeted such an area.
China and Lebanon issued statements Tuesday condemning the attack as a violation of Syria's sovereignty.
Russia and the Arab League issued similar statements Monday.
Syria has accused the United States of "terrorist aggression" for the raid and filed an official protest with Washington. Syria has warned that if another raid happens, it will defend its territory.
Syria's state news agency, SANA, says thousands of people attended the funerals Monday of those killed in the raid.
The U.S. official who spoke to reporters confidentially said the targeted man was Abu Ghadiya. The U.S. Treasury Department has previously identified Ghadiya as a major terrorist financier for al-Qaida in Iraq.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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