NICOSIA -- The regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad says the
Holocaust never took place.
The government daily Syria Times, an English-language publication meant
for the diplomatic community in Syria, wrote on Wednesday that the Nazis
during World War II did not operate gas chambers or kill Jews. The gas
chambers, the daily wrote, "are only in the minds of Jewish terrorists like
Yitzhak Shamir and Ovadia Yosef."
Shamir was Israel's prime minister during the 1980s. Yosef is the
spiritual leader of the Shas party. The Syria Times termed Yosef a "snake,"
in reference to his remarks against Palestinians last month.
The denial of the Holocaust was the first published in a Syrian
government newspaper since Assad took over from his late father in June. The
34-year-old Assad has pledged to reform and modernize the country.
Among the reforms planned, Syrian sources said, was that of the
state-media. Assad has replaced the chiefs of government newspapers and the
state news service.
The newspaper said many Zionist leaders collaborated with the Nazis. The
daily quoted researchers who specialize in Holocaust denial.
