The NY Times reports that Islamic Jihad’s Damascus office retracted its initial claim of responsibility for last week’s Tel Aviv bombing due to Syrian government pressure.
Lingering accusations that Syria was behind a terrorist suicide bombing in Tel Aviv late Friday night are proving even more damaging. Islamic Jihad took responsibility for the bombing, but six hours later, denied the initial claim, apparently under pressure from the government. The Syrian reporter who first wrote of Islamic Jihad’s acknowledgement was said to have received phone calls from Syrian officials who criticized him for his lack of “patriotism.”
