Israel
vows to stop Syria’s S-300 missile shield from becoming operational
Netanyahu
tells European foreign ministers that if the Russian missile systems
get into Syria, Israel's 'entire airspace will become a no-fly zone'
and therefore it 'cannot stand idly by.'
31
May, 2013
Israel's
National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror sketched out what
Jerusalem's "red line" is vis-à-vis the S-300 missile
systems Russia intends to send to Syria before the 27 European Union
ambassadors in Israel.
Two diplomats who were in
the room during the briefing last Thursday, who spoke on condition of
anonymity because the meeting was a closed event, said that Amidror
stressed Israel will act "to prevent the S-300 missiles from
becoming operational" on Syrian soil. This message was also
conveyed by Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon when he said on
Tuesdaythat if the missiles reach Syria "Israel will know what
to do."
Amidror's briefing, the
diplomats said, made it clear that Israel estimates that sooner or
later Russia will provide Syria with the missile systems and for
reasons unrelated to Israel - namely Russian rivalry with the U.S.,
Britain and France on the Syrian issue. "We understood from
Amidror that the Israeli government thinks the missile transfer
cannot be prevented, therefore it will act against them after the
transfer but before they become operational," one of the
diplomats said.
Syria’s President
Bashar al-Assad has confessed in an interview to AL-Manar TV Lebanon
that the government has received the first batch of Russia-made
long-range surface-to-air missiles, Israeli media report.
Assad added the next
shipment of advanced S-300 missile systems was coming in shortly.
Al-Manar is expected to publish the complete interview later today.
Russia’s Deputy Foreign
Minister Sergei Ryabkov previously told journlaists he wasn’t in a
position to either confirm or deny the reports that claim the first
S-300 missiles had already reached Syria. He added however Russia was
indeed planning to supply Damascus with its missile systems.
Mr. Ryabkov said he
realized this news came as a wakeup call for Russia’s global
partners, but underscored Moscow was not going to revise its stance.
Moscow hopes that the US
and EU will be able to “rein in” opposition’s National Syrian
Coalition, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
Moscow hopes that the US
and EU will be able to “rein in” opposition’s National Syrian
Coalition, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
He condemned the
opposition forces for urging a regime change in Syria, a call that
can abort the planned Geneva peace conference.
Mr. Lavrov said he hoped
Americans and Europeans would show some common sense and restrain the
most aggressive of opposition elements. He also criticized those who
were trying to present the NSC as the sole force capable of speaking
out on Syria’s behalf.
Israel is looking into
reports on Thursday that Syria had received the first shipment of the
advanced Russian air defence system S-300, an Israeli official said.
"I have no
information beyond what has been reported, which we are looking
into," the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity,
after a Lebanese newspaper quoted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as
saying a shipment had arrived.
Israel, which has made
veiled threats to prevent S-300 missiles from becoming operational in
Syria, has lobbied the Russians against the sale and said on Tuesday
that shipments had not yet been made. Israel's airspace would be
within range of the system if it is deployed in Syria, a northern
neighbour.
Russian deliveries of
S-300 defensive surface-to-air missile systems to Damascus could help
prevent any possible intervention by external forces in the Syrian
conflict, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said at a
press conference in Moscow.
"In our opinion,
these deliveries play a stabilizing role. We believe that such steps
will largely help stop certain hotheads from turning it into a
possible international conflict, from considering a scenario that
would make this conflict international with the involvement of
external forces that are not averse to such ideas," he said.
"We are speaking
about deliveries of defensive weapons to the government of this
country with the aim of protecting facilities and contingents of
soldiers," Ryabkov said.
Moscow's envoy to NATO
Alexander Grushko on S-300 exports to Syria: Russia will fulfill
signed contracts
Russia will continue
honoring its commitments as part of military-technological
cooperation with Syria, Moscow's envoy to NATO Alexander Grushko told
journalists on Tuesday, commenting on the future of the contract to
deliver Russian S-300 air defense missile systems to Damascus.
"We will fulfill the
signed contracts. Russia has been acting in total compliance with
international law," the high-ranking Russian diplomat said.
According to Western news
reports, Russia allegedly decided not to fulfill its S-300 contract
with Syria seeking to accommodate Israel's request.
"We have done
nothing that could change the situation in Syria. The weapons we have
delivered there are defensive," he said.
Syria is intent to take
part in the second round of Geneva peace talks, President Bashar
al-Assad said, stressing the government hoped to see concrete
results.
Speaking in an interview
with Al-Manar TV Lebanon, the Syrian president also criticized the
leadership of the Syrian major opposition bloc. The full interview
will be available later today.
Syria’s President
Bashar al-Assad has confirmed that militants of the extremist
Lebanon-based Hezbollah movement had infiltrated the country.
Speaking with Lebanon’s
Al-Manar TV channel, the president confessed that groups of Hezbollah
Islamists were fighting in the border area. He stressed however they
had no part in the counter-rebel offensive, which was carried out
entirely by the government forces.
Assad vowed the regime
would be fighting insurgents till the last rebel. He condemned
Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar for funding Syrian opposition forces
and blamed these governments for helping some 100,000 mercenaries
from a variety of Arab countries into the war-torn Syria.
Bashar al-Assad confirmed
that the regime was open for peace talks, which are set to be held in
Geneva, but added he didn’t pin much hope on them.
Moscow
threatens to speed missiles to Syria but also offers to delay
Russia
could speed up delivery of anti-aircraft missiles to Syria if the
West intervenes, but also floated the idea of suspending the
shipment, Russian media reported on Friday, as Moscow set out its
negotiating position ahead of peace talks.
31
May, 2013
A
Russian arms industry source was quoted by Interfax news agency as
threatening to hasten delivery of the hotly-contested S-300 missiles
if the West were to impose a no-fly zone or Israel were to launch new
air strikes.
However
the source also "did not exclude that the delivery of the S-300
to Syria could be frozen for a period of time" Interfax
reported, comparing the move to the delivery of another weapons
system that was suspended by Moscow.
Russia's
arms industry is firmly controlled by the state, and it is unlikely
the unidentified source would be authorized to speak without the
blessing of the Kremlin.
Russia
and the West are staking out positions with parallel threats to arm
the warring sides ahead of a peace conference next month, the first
attempt in a year by the global powers on either side in Syria's
civil war to look for a way to end it.
French
President Francois Hollande said it was unacceptable for Moscow to
talk about arming the Syrian government ahead of the conference, even
as he repeated his own threats to arm the rebels fighting against
President Bashar al-Assad.
U.S.
Secretary of State John Kerry and German Foreign Minister Guido
Westerwelle also criticized Russia for discussing arms sales to
Assad.
Yuri
Ushakov, President Vladimir Putin's foreign policy aide, said it was
the EU's decision last week to lift its embargo on arming the rebels
that was "not conducive to preparations for such an important
international event" as the Geneva conference.
Paris
and London say they wanted the embargo lifted ahead of the peace
talks to gain leverage over Assad and Moscow.
In
another signal that Moscow is prepared to arm Assad, the head of
aircraft maker MiG was quoted as saying he still plans to send Syria
at least 10 MiG-29 fighters under a 2007 contract.
WORRYING
Particularly
worrying for the West is Moscow's plans to fulfill a 2010 contract to
send Assad the S-300, an advanced anti-aircraft missile system that
could make it far more dangerous to impose a no-fly zone, and could
threaten planes deep inside the air space of Israel or NATO-member
Turkey.
The
Russian arms industry source said the S-300 missiles could not arrive
in Syria for months, but the pace of delivery would be determined by
the behavior of Assad's foes.
"Regarding
the deliveries of the S-300, they can begin no earlier than the
autumn," the source said. "Technically it's possible, but
much will depend on how the situation develops in the region and the
position of Western countries."
Without
naming Israel specifically, Interfax paraphrased the source as
saying: "Air attacks on Syria from the side of a neighboring
government or the introduction of a so-called no-fly zone above Syria
may serve as a pretext for speeding up the deliveries of the S-300."
Israel,
which has bombed Syria at least three times in recent months to
prevent Assad from transferring arms to his Lebanese Hezbollah
militia allies, has urgently called on Moscow to scrap the S-300
deliveries, as have Western countries.
France's
Hollande set out his country's position - shared with Britain and
other allies - that the West must be able to arm the rebels as long
as Moscow is arming Assad.
"We
cannot accept that when we are preparing Geneva 2 (talks) with the
idea of finding a political solution, that Russia is delivering
weapons at the same time to Assad's regime, and that we should be
(prevented) from delivering weapons to the opposition," Hollande
said.
"To
ensure the political solution happens, you should never put aside the
option of military pressure, and in this case it is lifting the EU
embargo."
"PRETTY
GOOD AIR DEFENCES"
Russian
daily Vedomosti has reported that Assad bought four units of the
modernized S-300PMU-2 system for nearly $1 billion.
The
S-300 can track targets up to 300 km (190 miles) away and can hit at
a range of up to 200 km, sparking Israeli fears that Assad's reach
could extend well into the Jewish state and threaten flights over its
main commercial airport near Tel Aviv.
Western
experts say the missiles would enhance Assad's Russian-supplied
arsenal of short-range Pantsir missiles and medium-range BUK missile
systems.
A
source close to the Russian Defense Ministry said Assad would use his
other air Defense systems to guard the S-300, giving him "pretty
good" air defenses.
Russia
has been Assad's most powerful diplomatic ally in a conflict that has
killed more than 80,000 people since March 2011. Along with China, it
has vetoed three U.N. Security Council resolutions aimed at
pressuring Assad to end violence.
RIA
news agency quoted the head of MiG as saying he was discussing terms
for the fighter jets with a Syrian delegation in Moscow now. It did
not say when delivery was expected.
Russia
had planned to begin delivering last year on a $600 million contract
for 12 MiG-29MM2 fighter jets signed in 2007, with an option for 12
more. The jets are to be equipped with air-to-air and air-to-surface
rockets, making them a tough enemy if a "no-fly zone" were
imposed.
The
source close to the Defense Ministry said Syrian troops would need to
be trained on the S-300 in Russia's southern province of Astrakhan.
Former
Russian Air Force Commander General Anatoly Kornukov told Interfax
such training would need a minimum of two to four weeks. The S-300s
themselves would be ready for use "within five minutes after the
delivery", he said.
Israeli
newspaper Haaretz has quoted National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror
as telling European diplomats that Israel would "prevent the
S-300 missiles from becoming operational".
See also coverage from the Guardian HERE
See also coverage from the Guardian HERE
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