Summary Jordan King says armed forces ready to protect country against any threat from Syria.
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - Syria said Sunday that Egypt s decision to cut diplomatic ties with his country is "irresponsible," accusing its president of fueling sectarian conflict in Syria and serving a U.S.-Israeli conspiracy to divide the Middle East.
The government statement quoted in state media comes a day after President Mohammed Morsi told supporters at a Cairo rally that his country is severing ties with Damascus and closing its embassy in the Syrian capital.
Morsi, an Islamist who hails from Egypt s powerful Muslim Brotherhood, made the decision as calls proliferate from hardline Sunni clerics in Egypt and the region to launch a "holy war" against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
In his Saturday night speech, Morsi also called for a U.N. endorsed no-fly zone over Syria.
The strongly-worded Syrian statement said on Sunday said Morsi is supporting an idea that would violate its sovereignty, and is "serving the goals of Israel and the United States" in the region.
"Mohammed Morsi joins a choir of conspiracy and incitement led by the United States and Israel against Syria," the statement said.
It also accused Morsi of endorsing calls by hardline clerics calling for fighting in Syria against Assad s regime "to shed Syrian blood instead of directing the compass toward liberating occupied Palestinian lands."
Meanwhile, King Abdullah said on Sunday Jordan s armed forces were ready to protect the country against any threat from the escalating civil war in neighbouring Syria.
He was speaking as Jordanian and U.S. forces conducted military exercises less than 75 miles (120 km) from the Syrian border, with the participation of 17 other countries.
Diplomats say the exercises, in their second week, aim to send a strong message to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who warned the kingdom last April not to use its territory as a launching pad against his forces.
A Pentagon spokesman said on Saturday Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has approved a Jordanian request for U.S. F-16s and Patriot missiles to remain in the kingdom after the end of the military manoeuvres.
"If the world does not help as it should, and if the matter becomes a danger to our country, we are able at any moment to take the measures to protect the country and the interest of our people," King Abdullah told military cadets at a graduation ceremony in southern Jordan.
Jordan s military brass say the U.S.-led military exercises, in which more than 3,000 Jordanian troops are taking part alongside 4,500 American troops, are crucial to its military preparations in the coming months.
