Damascus- The Syrian press, welcoming the arrival of Egyptian troops in the country, today [October 14] reported on an “open warning” from the Syrian army chief of staff, General Afif Bizri, to Turkey and Israel against attacking Syria. “Imperialism, which is massing troops along our northern and southern borders, should know today that any anti-Syrian aggression will be regarded as directed against the entire Arab nation,” General Bizri was quoted as saying. Egyptian land forces and naval units arrived in Syria’s Mediterranean port of Latakia yesterday [October 13] under the terms of a mutual defense pact. This move by the joint Syrian-Egyptian military command highlighted Turko-Syrian border tension. Damascus newspapers unanimously hailed the Egyptian move as “the greatest historic Arab event in modern times.”
Source- The International Herald Tribune, October 15, 2007, page 2.