'Orders for bombing came from Syria'

Olmert tells Congressmen Israel will act unilaterally if terror persists.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
olmert at cabinet 298 Ap (photo credit: AP [file])
olmert at cabinet 298 Ap
(photo credit: AP [file])
Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert asserted on Friday that Syrian and Iran were behind Monday's suicide bombing in Tel Aviv that killed nine Israelis and wounded dozens. "The order for the Tel Aviv suicide bombing came from Damascus and when the operation was complete the report went back to Damascus," Olmert told a visiting group of US senators, according to his office. He noted that the Iranians, using Syria as a mediator, were funding and guiding terrorism against Israel. He also mentioned the strengthening ties between the two states and Hamas. "There is a channel of communication between Iran, Syria and the Palestinian Authority," claimed Olmert. Addressing the Palestinian front, the interim prime minister said that Israel preferred to deal with them diplomatically, but if the terrorist attacks continued, then Israel would have no choice but to see to its own security using unilateral measures. Olmert warned that it would be the Palestinians who suffered if Israel unilaterally declared its own borders. On the other hand, Hamas Member of Parliament Mushir al-Masri, in an interview to al-Arabiya, warned that Israel defining the final borders on its own would exacerbate the situation in the whole region. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni also met with the US representatives on Thursday.