An Israeli strike on a Syrian position in Lebanon was a "gross violation" of international law, Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara said on a visit to Moscow today.
Earlier Israeli Foreign Minister Mr Shimon Peres, said the attack on a Syrian radar station in Lebabon was "ill-timed" because of the risk of provoking an escalation in violence in the region.
At least three Syrian soldiers were killed and six wounded in the raid which destroyed the radar station which is located deep in Lebanon.
The night strike in eastern Lebanon's Syrian-controlled Bekaa Valley was in retaliation for the killing on Saturday of an Israeli soldier by Lebanese Hizbollah guerrillas, who are backed by Syria and Iran, on the Lebanon-Israel border.
It was seen as a warning to Syria, a main power broker in Lebanon, to rein in Hizbollah.
The attack caused consternation among at least two members of Mr Sharon's inner security cabinet at the overnight meeting that ordered the strike, and warnings from the Palestinians and Lebanon were that the raid would provoke a regional conflict.
According to Mr Amir Oren, a military analyst with the leading Israeli Haaretz newspaper, the attack was a "calculated risk". "The risk is minimal in this type of situation. If we do nothing we invite other attacks," he said.
Last night Israeli warplanes attacked Syrian army radar targets north of the Beirut-Damascus highway in response to recent terrorist attacks, the Israeli army said in a statement in Jerusalem.
Lebanese Prime Minister Mr Rafik al-Hariri denounced the raids 35 km east of Beirut as a grave aggression on Lebanon and Syria and warned against widening the conflict.
He called on the international community to act swiftly to contain the repercussions of such tension which could take dangerous dimensions.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Mr Abdulilah al-Khatib also condemned the Israeli strike, saying it aggravated regional tensions.
"We deplore the unnecessary escalation that has aggravated the situation in the region, Mr Khatib said before leaving for Israel for talks with Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon.
Mr Khatib said he would convey to Israeli leaders in very strong terms the consequences of the raid on stability in the region.
Syria's foreign minister said the Israeli air attack was an attempt by Israel to kill the Middle East peace process.
"They (the Israelis) want to kill the peace process in the same way as they are killing Palestinian children", Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara told a news conference in Moscow.
"The action by Israel shows that it does not want peace but is going along the path of aggression", Mr Shara, who was in Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, said.
Earlier today, Russia condemned the Israeli air strikes, which have spread fears of a wider conflict in a region already torn by months of Palestinian-Israeli clashes.
Meanwhile the Syrian-backed Hizbollah guerrilla group pledged today to turn Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's dream of security into a nightmare.
Today's strike was the first against a Syrian position in Lebanon since April 1996, when one Syrian soldier was killed and seven others were seriously wounded in a raid on an air defence position in Beirut.
The latest raid came hours before Israeli and Palestinian officials were due to meet for another round of security talks at the US ambassador's suburban Tel Aviv residence after a weekend of violence in Israel and the occupied territories that gave added urgency to the discussions.
The weekend saw the end of the Jewish Passover and the climax of the Christian Easter celebrations in the Holy Land.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon signalled he would maintain his tough line against a nearly seven-month-old Palestinian uprising for independence, in which at least 376 Palestinians, 13 Israeli Arabs and 71 other Israelis have died.
AFP