Assad 'regrets' Turkey jet shooting

Syrian President Bashar Assad regrets the shooting down of a Turkish jet by his forces, a Turkish newspaper said today.

Syrian President Bashar Assad has said he regrets the shooting down of a Turkish jet by his forces, and he will not allow tensions between the two neighbours to turn into an “armed conflict”, a Turkish newspaper reported today.

Syria downed the RF-4E warplane on June 22, after, it claimed, it flew very low inside its airspace. Turkey said the jet was hit in international airspace after it briefly strayed into Syria.