Syria is capable of destroying Israel’s nuclear facilities with 20 missiles, Syria’s ambassador to Jordan, Bahjat Suleiman, told a visiting delegation on Wednesday, pro-Assad news sources have reported.
Suleiman, a loyalist of Syrian President Bashar Assad, also told a visiting delegation of Baath Party members and Arab nationalists that Riyad Hijab, the Syrian prime minister who defected to Jordan earlier this month, had received 20 million dollars for his “betrayal.”
He said that Syria was capable of destroy the Israeli installations “if attacked,” despite the grave losses it would incur as a result.
Syria has acquired surface-to-surface missiles from Russia and North Korea which cover most of the territory of Israel. In September 2007, the Israeli Air Force reportedly destroyed a nuclear reactor Syria was developing with the assistance of North Korea, although Israel never officially claimed responsibility for the strike.
On Wednesday, Jordanian media criticized Suleiman for refusing to receive a letter of rebuke from the Jordanian government after a Jordanian girl was injured by Syrian shells near the Jordanian border village of Talat Qurba.