Haaretz - Israel News

Last = update - 10:17=20 03/06/2005

Report: Syria = test-fires=20 three Scud missiles, Israelis say

By The = Associated=20 Press

NEW YORK - Syria = test-fired three=20 Scud missiles last Friday, including one that broke up = over=20 Turkish territory and showered missile parts down onto = unsuspecting Turkish farmers, The New York Times = quoted=20 Israeli military officials as saying.

These = were the=20 first such Syrian missile tests since 2001, the = paper's Web=20 site quoted the Israelis as saying, and were part of a = Syrian=20 missile development project using North Korean = technology and=20 designed, the Israelis contend, to deliver air-burst = chemical=20 weapons.

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The missiles = included one=20 older Scud B, with a range of about 300 kilometers, = and two=20 Scud D's with a range of about 700 kilometers, the = Times'=20 sites said late Thursday, quoting Israeli=20 officials.

Little was especially startling = about the=20 tests, Israeli officials said, except the = embarrassment to=20 Turkey - a member of NATO - and the timing, during the = Lebanese elections, the Times said.

The Israeli = military officials quoted by the Times said they = interpreted=20 the launchings as a gesture of defiance to the United = States=20 and the United Nations by Syrian President Bashar = Assad, who=20 has been pushed in a humiliating fashion to remove = Syrian=20 troops from Lebanon since the assassination of the = anti-Syrian=20 politician, Rafik Hariri.

The Times said = Israeli=20 officials, who are familiar with the intelligence but = asked=20 that their names or departments not be identified, = decided to=20 publicize the tests in part because they were puzzled = by the=20 American silence about them, and because Israel sees = them as=20 part of a troubling pattern of behavior by=20 Assad.

Israel is particularly concerned about = the=20 Syrian missile program and the Syrian hold, now = shaken, over=20 bordering Lebanon. Syria harbors the leadership of the = Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad = and helps=20 them, as well as the Iranian-sponsored Hezbollah, with = money,=20 arms and sponsorship.

All the missiles were = launched=20 from northern Syria, near Minakh, north of Aleppo, the = Times=20 quoted the Israeli officials as saying. One was sent = about 400=20 kilometers to southernmost Syria, near the Jordanian = border.=20 The one that broke up was fired southwest toward the=20 Mediterranean, over the Turkish province of Hatay, the = ancient=20 Antioch, and shed debris over two villages there. The = Israelis=20 said they had film of the launching and = breakup.

In=20 Washington, the Turkish ambassador, Osman Faruk = Logoglu, told=20 the Times there were no casualties in the incident on = May 27.=20 The Syrian ambassador was asked to explain and "said = that=20 during a military exercise, there was a technical = mishap," the=20 Times quoted Logoglu as saying, "and that the Syrian=20 government was sorry about this."

But the = Israelis=20 quoted by the Times noted that the test was the first = time=20 Syria had fired a missile over another country -a = member of=20 NATO -when Damascus could easily have moved its mobile = launchers to the center of the country to avoid flight = over=20 Turkey = altogether.


The=20 tent option
Neveh=20 Dekalim is preparing its plan: A 'tent city' within = Israel,=20 without government help. =


Sakhnin=20 Diaries
Arab=20 Israelis are still waiting to be accepted by the big = leagues=20 of Israeli civil society. =