INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Syria&s de facto leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa said on Saturday Israel is using false pretexts to justify its attacks on Syria, but that he is not
interested in engaging in new conflicts as the country focuses on rebuilding following the end of Bashar al-Assad&s reign.Sharaa & better
known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani & leads the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group that swept Assad from power last week, ending the family&s
five-decade iron-fisted rule.Israel has since moved into a demilitarised zone inside Syria created after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war,
including the Syrian side of the strategic Mount Hermon that overlooks Damascus, where it took over an abandoned Syrian military
post.Israel, which has said that it does not intend to stay there and calls the incursion into Syrian territory a limited and temporary
measure to ensure border security, has also carried out hundreds of strikes on Syria&s strategic weapons stockpiles.Several Arab countries,
including Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Jordan, condemned what they called Israel&s seizure of a buffer zone in the Golan Heights.&Israeli
arguments have become weak and no longer justify their recent violations
The Israelis have clearly crossed the lines of engagement in Syria, which poses a threat of unwarranted escalation in the region,& Sharaa
said in an interview published on the website of Syria TV, a pro-opposition channel.&Syria&s war-weary condition, after years of conflict
and war, does not allow for new confrontations
The priority at this stage is reconstruction and stability, not being drawn into disputes that could lead to further destruction.&He also
said diplomatic solutions were the only way to ensure security and stability and that &uncalculated military adventures& were not wanted.On
Russia, whose military intervention almost a decade ago helped tip the balance in Assad&s favour and which gave asylum to the ousted leader
earlier this week, Sharaa said that its relations with Syria should serve common interests.&The current stage requires careful management of
international relations,& he added. (Reuters)The post Syria&s de facto leader not interested in new conflicts despite Israeli attacks first
