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A. I have not mentioned [Israel's] acts to suggest that we are doing the same. Syria has no connection with terror. We challenge [Western] intelligence services to prove that Syria was behind a single terrorist operation anywhere. No terrorist acts are carried out from Syria, by Syrians or others. We do advocate struggle against Israel, by all means, to expel the Israelis from our occupied land. But our struggle is here, on Arab land, not in Europe or the United States.
As for the Lebanon camps, we are not an international police force there. We are in Lebanon to serve our people and to fight Israeli terrorism. We also aim to stop the civil war and to help achieve reconciliation among the Lebanese.
Q. There is a trial in London involving an alleged attempt to blow up an Israeli jetliner last April. The person arrested in London is said to have had Syrian help.
A. This is merely an allegation without evidence. It is logical to conclude that some intelligence services, in the forefront the Israelis, are behind such acts because they benefit from them.
Q. Do you really believe that Israeli intelligence could be behind a plot against an Israeli plane?
A. Israeli intelligence, according to our conclusions, did not plan to blow up the plane. Rather, they planned an operation that would stop before a bombing and enable Israel to use the matter politically, as it is doing now. Theoretically, they made up a plan to down the plane and created a scenario for executing the plan. But the scenario ends at the plane's doorstep when the woman carrying the briefcase hands it over to an Israeli security officer. She insists on carrying it by hand so that the Israeli security officer can take it. Who is the real beneficiary from this affair? Syria has no interest: blowing up an airplane does not cause the end of Israel. Does Syria feel proud before the world that it has downed a civilian Israeli plane?
The [London] operation failed because its failure was premeditated. If Syria had had a hand in it, the accused would not be facing trial in a British court. The hijacker went to the Syrian embassy in London following the operation and told the staff he was cooperating with Syria. The embassy staff was surprised and contacted Syria's security authorities, who instructed the embassy to turn him out and to call the British police if he refused. The hijacker shouted, "You will see what I can do."
We have since learned that he was a Jordanian, Nezar Hindawi. He worked for one of the Arab newspapers published in London. He came to Syria once, a year before the incident, and said he had a Jordanian passport which had expired and which Jordanian authorities declined to renew. He requested a Syrian passport. It was granted--an ordinary matter that happens often in Arab countries.
If we were convinced that terrorist acts could serve our cause, we could carry them out. But terrorism serves Israel's interests--not ours.
Q. You have been helpful in the release of some foreign hostages in Lebanon. What are the chances of freeing the remaining hostages?
A. We will exert, as in the past, all possible efforts for the sake of the hostages. One of the obstacles is an American attitude that attempts to deal with the kidnapers from a position of strength.
Q. What is the alternative?