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Israel Remembers 30th Anniversary of Yom Kippur War After Attack on Syria

Aired October 06, 2003 - 11:05   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the mood in Syria after the Israeli strike. And on the 30th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War. CNN's Rula Amin joining us now by phone from the Syrian capital, Damascus. Rula, hello.
RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, good morning. Syria is focused to make -- they want here to make sure that this attack is not repeated. Syrian officials say that for now they want this crisis to be resolved at the United Nations Security Council and diplomatically because they think that any kind of escalation is not going to be good for the region in general.

And this is something that seems to be shared by many leaders in the region whether in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon. And people here feel that this could actually escalate further the cycle of violence since it's a very volatile situation.

On the ground here in Syria, Syrians today were marking the 30th anniversary of the war with Israel, the 6th October war or the Yom Kippur war, as the Israelis say it is.

So here at the same time they are refraining from pressing Israel with any kind of military strike. They say they will refrain from doing that for now. But we heard throughout the day from Syrian officials, off the record, that if there is another attack in the future, Damascus may choose to respond in a different manner -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Any idea what that would mean, Rula?

AMIN: No. And they were -- the Syrian officials we spoke to were very concerned that they don't want to sound that they want to escalate this crisis. But they want to get the message across that they cannot tolerate another attack and they can't afford to tolerate another attack because on the streets they don't look good. It doesn't look good when they are attacked and they don't respond.

And for now, just now we were on streets of Damascus talking to Syrians. And many were saying that Syria should respond because if Syria doesn't respond, Israelis will do it again.

At the same token, we spoke to other people who were actually saying what their government did was wise, that it shouldn't respond to the Israeli attack because that would expose Israel, in their views, and it would show who's attacking and who's being attacked -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Rula Amin on the phone today from the Syrian capital of Damascus. Rula, thanks so much.

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Attack on Syria>


Aired October 6, 2003 - 11:05   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the mood in Syria after the Israeli strike. And on the 30th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War. CNN's Rula Amin joining us now by phone from the Syrian capital, Damascus. Rula, hello.
RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, good morning. Syria is focused to make -- they want here to make sure that this attack is not repeated. Syrian officials say that for now they want this crisis to be resolved at the United Nations Security Council and diplomatically because they think that any kind of escalation is not going to be good for the region in general.

And this is something that seems to be shared by many leaders in the region whether in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon. And people here feel that this could actually escalate further the cycle of violence since it's a very volatile situation.

On the ground here in Syria, Syrians today were marking the 30th anniversary of the war with Israel, the 6th October war or the Yom Kippur war, as the Israelis say it is.

So here at the same time they are refraining from pressing Israel with any kind of military strike. They say they will refrain from doing that for now. But we heard throughout the day from Syrian officials, off the record, that if there is another attack in the future, Damascus may choose to respond in a different manner -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Any idea what that would mean, Rula?

AMIN: No. And they were -- the Syrian officials we spoke to were very concerned that they don't want to sound that they want to escalate this crisis. But they want to get the message across that they cannot tolerate another attack and they can't afford to tolerate another attack because on the streets they don't look good. It doesn't look good when they are attacked and they don't respond.

And for now, just now we were on streets of Damascus talking to Syrians. And many were saying that Syria should respond because if Syria doesn't respond, Israelis will do it again.

At the same token, we spoke to other people who were actually saying what their government did was wise, that it shouldn't respond to the Israeli attack because that would expose Israel, in their views, and it would show who's attacking and who's being attacked -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Rula Amin on the phone today from the Syrian capital of Damascus. Rula, thanks so much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




Attack on Syria>