Egypt condemns Israeli attack on Syria
Egypt condemned an Israeli attack on Syria on Sunday, saying it complicated a crisis that Cairo was trying to help resolve.
Israel carried out its second air strike in days on Syria, targeting Iranian-supplied missiles headed for Lebanon's Hezbollah, a Western intelligence source said.
In a statement, Egypt's presidency said the attack was a violation of international law and a threat to regional security and stability that "made the situation more complicated".
Egypt's Islamist leaders came to power last year after a popular uprising in 2011 and have been critical of the Syrian government's efforts to put down an insurgency that erupted weeks after Egypt's street revolt.
Although Egypt stood opposed to the Damascus government's use of military force against its people, it also rejected "the attack on Syrian assets (and) the violation of Syria's sovereignty", the statement said.
Cairo tried last year to end the Syrian crisis through coordination with Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia, but it failed to gain traction from the start as the Saudis did not attend the negotiations.
Late last month, Egypt's president, Mohamed Mursi, sent two senior aides to Shi'ite Islamist Iran - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's main regional ally - for talks on a peaceful solution to the civil war. Mursi said in December that the Assad administration had no place in Syria's future.
Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby called upon the United Nations Security Council to move immediately to halt "the Israeli attacks on Syria", Egyptian state news agency MENA reported on Sunday, citing an Arab League official.
Reuters
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