Ankara, Turkey | Sept 10

AP - Turkey on Monday called the discovery on its territory of fuel tanks allegedly dropped by Israeli aircraft unacceptable and Syria branded it a hostile act.

Turkish officials complained to Israel over the weekend after the discovery of the unmarked fuel tanks near its border with Syria. Syria had alleged on Thursday that Israeli aircraft entered its airspace and dropped munitions.

"It was an intentional, hostile attack," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said Monday during a visit to Turkey.

Warplanes sometimes drop extra fuel tanks to make the aircraft lighter and easier to maneuver.

"This is an unacceptable development," Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said during the joint news conference with his Syrian counterpart.

"All countries in the region must show respect to all countries' sovereignty and carefully avoid acts that lead to tensions," Babacan said. "Otherwise, tensions would be fueled and peace and stability in the region might be harmed."

Turkey had demanded a prompt clarification from Israel, Babacan said. The Turkish minister added that Israel had said it would investigate and make a statement on the issue.

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, during a news conference in Jerusalem on Monday, declined to comment on the media reports about the incident.

"I'm sure that you don't really expect me to refer to these reports and I do not believe that further statements on these issues by either side are helpful," she said.

"Israel has openly shown that it has no intentions to make peace," al-Moallem said.

If the fuel tanks were proven to belong to Israeli aircraft, that would be the first concrete evidence that Israeli warplanes were in the area.

The incident has raised questions about why Israel would want to heighten tensions with Syria, its enemy to the north. Experts have speculated Israel might have been seeking information about long-range missiles pointed at Israel, testing Syrian air defense or trying out a possible air route to its archenemy Iran.

Turkey has close relations with Israel and in the past allowed Israeli aircraft to use its air bases and air space for training.