THE leaders of Palestinian militant groups based in Syria have warned that they will carry out further attacks on Israeli targets, increasing the pressure on President Bashar al-Assad, who is facing his greatest challenge since he succeeded his father three years ago.

Assad has been urged to crack down on the militants since Israel mounted an air raid near Damascus, the capital, last weekend on what it described as a military camp used by one of the groups, Islamic Jihad.

Israel acted in response to a suicide bombing by Islamic Jihad at a beach-front restaurant in Haifa where 20 people were killed, including four children.

Ramadan Abdullah Shalah, the group’s highest ranking official, who is based in Damascus, made it clear that the suicide bombings and other attacks on Israel would continue despite the air raid.

“This battle and targeting will not deter us from continuing the path of jihad and struggle,” said Shalah, who was placed by Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, at the top of a hit list of terrorist targets. “We have travelled this road, knowing for certain that this is the road of sacrifices and burdens. We must continue until we achieve victory.”

Another senior official from Islamic Jihad said there was “no current political consensus” among the Palestinian factions to cease attacks against the Israelis. “If a field decision maker recognises an opportunity for a successful attack then be assured such an operation will be mounted immediately,” he said.

Islamic Jihad’s views were echoed by a senior official from Hamas, the other main militant group. “Expelling or closing down our operations in Syria will not change the facts on the ground in Israel,” he said.

The raid on the camp was Israel’s first such attack on Syria in 30 years and appeared to mark a serious escalation of the crisis in the Middle East.

Shalah claimed that Islamic Jihad did not have any camps or military positions in Syria, but a western diplomat in Damascus said there was little doubt that the target of the Israeli raid, 15 miles northwest of the capital, had been used by militant groups within the past few months.

Although apparently abandoned by its former patron Ahmed Jibril, of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command, recent evidence confirmed that it had been reactivated during the intifada that began three years ago.

“We do not know whether the camp was operational at the time of the airstrike, but we are certain that a number of groups including Islamic Jihad certainly used it as recently as this year,” the diplomat said.

Photographs showed that the camp had rocket launchers and anti-aircraft weapons, he added. “Not the sort of thing one leaves in an abandoned area.”

The raid has nevertheless complicated the position of the president, who trained in London as an ophthalmologist. Although Assad was viewed by many as a liberaliser when he took power, he has had to take account of the views of conservatives aides he inherited from his father, Hafiz.

The president now appears as determined as his father was to adhere to a tough line against Israel and maintain support for Islamic Jihad and Hamas. Despite agreeing to shut the organisations’ public offices and asking their leaders to tone down their rhetoric, Assad appears to have done little to curtail their activities.

Arab analysts say he regards them as “legitimate resistance fighters” rather than terrorists and considers them a useful tool against Israel. “The Palestinian militant groups are Syria’s most important cards in hand and it will not give them up,” said one Palestinian analyst.

The Syrian stand nevertheless threatens to worsen relations not only with Israel but also with the United States. In May after the defeat of Saddam Hussein, Colin Powell, the

US secretary of state, gave what he called a final warning to Syria to end its support for terrorist groups.

Washington is stepping up the pressure. The House of Representatives is expected to pass a bill this week threatening diplomatic and economic sanctions against Syria unless it stops supporting terrorism, halts any programmes to develop weapons of mass destruction and withdraws troops from neighbouring Lebanon. The White House, which feared inflaming relations with Arab countries, has dropped its opposition to the measure. It also has strong bipartisan support in the Senate.

This in turn could make concessions more difficult for Assad, who cannot be seen at home to be bowing to American pressure. The western diplomat said Washington had used too many sticks with Syria and had not offered enough carrots.

The government, meanwhile, continued its war of words with Israel. Yesterday Bushra Kanafani, a foreign ministry spokesman, said Syria had a right to defend itself if attacked again. Israel retorted that any states harbouring terrorists were legitimate targets. Baz Ratner

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