DAMASCUS, Sept 30 (AFP) - An official Syrian newspaper called Thursday for the country's archfoe Israel to be sanctioned over its "terrorist" policies and expelled from the United Nations.
"It is high time Israel is sanctioned for its terrorist record and its odious crimes which threaten the stability of the region and international security," the Ath-Thawra newspaper said.
Its comments followed the killing of a top Hamas militant in the Syrian capital on Sunday in an attack blamed by Damascus and Hamas on Israel -- the top US ally in the region.
"American policy, which has made the fight against terrorism its prime objective, must prove its credibility by regarding the bloody attacks by Israel (against the Palestinians) and its vile operations as the height of terrorism," the paper said.
"The international community, with the United States at its leader, should apply Chapter Seven of the UN Charter to Israel and if necessary expel it to force it to renounce its terrorist policy and preserve global security."
Chapter Seven deals with "threats to the peace, breaches of the peace and acts of aggression."
The United States slapped sanctions on Syria in May, accusing it of supporting terrorism and turning a blind eye to the movement across its border into Iraq of insurgents seeking to battle US-led and Iraqi forces there.