JERUSALEM [MENL] -- Syria has completed a successful test of its Scud D ballistic missile.
Israeli intelligence sources said Damascus fired the Scud D in late January in northeastern Syria. The sources said the missile flew for several hundred kilometers and landed near an apparent target.
"From all indications, this was a successful test," an intelligence source said.
The sources said the Scud D launch was detected by the Green Pine radar system around Jan. 28. The Green Pine, with a reported range of more than 500 kilometers, was part of the Arrow-2 missile defense system.
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By ASSOCIATED PRESS
DAMASCUS, Syria   
President Bashar Assad said in an interview aired Monday by ABC-TV that Syria is ready to talk to the US about Iraq but is not optimistic Washington will seek a dialogue even though it may be the "last chance" to avoid full-scale civil war.
Assad criticized US President George W. Bush, saying his administration does not have the "vision" to bring peace in Iraq. In the interview with "Good Morning America," Assad praised Bush's father, saying the elder Bush had the "will to achieve the peace in the region."
Assad said Syria could play an important role in "supporting the dialogue between the different parties inside Iraq with the support from the other parties like the Americans and the other neighboring countries..."
"We're not the only player, not the single player. But we are the main player in this issue," Assad told ABC News' Diane Sawyer. "So that's how we can stop the violence."
The bipartisan Iraq Study Group recommended in December that the Bush administration make diplomatic overtures to Syria and Iran to use their influence with Sunni and Shi'ite extremist groups to curb the violence and prevent the conflict from spilling over ...   more »

By Meron Rapoport, Haaretz Correspondent, and Reuters  
The excavation of a tunnel under Jerusalem's City of David has gone on for months without a license from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), as required by law.
In addition, there is no operative plan for developing the site by the Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority (INNPPA), which legally administers the area.
Nevertheless, no steps are being taken against the two IAA archaeologists who violated their license; instead, they are being allowed to dig in an area extending another 100 meters, to "explore" the site.    
The archaeologists, Professor Gabi Reich and Eli Shukrun, began the dig in the area of the village of Silwan a few months ago, following the discovery of part of a road that may have been Jerusalem's main street in the Second Temple era. The dig is being financed by Elad, an association that, inter alia, works to settle Jews in East Jerusalem.
Late last year, the archaeologists showed senior government officials a plan to continue tunneling under Silwan to the Old City's Dung Gate, some 600 meters away, and perhaps even as far as the wall around the Temple Mount.
The goal, they said, ...   more »