ALERT: Assad Says Syria Has Received Advanced AntiAircraft Missiles From Russia
(NYTimes) BEIRUT, Lebanon — President Bashar al-Assad of Syria said in a
television interview to be broadcast on Thursday that Russia has
delivered S-300 air defense missiles to his country, weapons that Israel
has said present a threat to its security and against which it is
willing to use force.
"Syria has received the first shipment of
Russian antiaircraft S-300 rockets," Mr. Assad said in the interview, to
be broadcast on Al Manar, the television channel of the Lebanese
militant group Hezbollah, which in recent weeks has dramatically
increased its military intervention in Syria on the side of Mr. Assad's
government. "The rest of the shipment will arrive later today."
Russian
officials had said earlier this week that the country would deliver the
weapons to Syria, a move that Mr. Assad's opponents said was a sign
that neither Russia nor the Syrian government was serious about proposed
negotiations to end the Syrian civil war that Russia and the United
States are trying to organize for as early as next month.
The
interview with Mr. Assad was taped on Tuesday, according to the Beirut
news director of Iran's English-language Press TV. That same day,
Israel's defense minister declared categorically that the missile
systems had not yet been delivered.
A senior Israeli official
said on Thursday that the S-300 missile systems "do not just come in a
box" and that different elements would probably be delivered in stages.
It was possible, he said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because
of diplomatic constraints, that some parts had arrived in Syria, but he
added that there was no indication at this stage that the systems were
anywhere near operational.
Secretary of State John Kerry has
raised the issue of the arms sales with the Russians, even as he and the
Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, are trying to arrange a
meeting between the Assad government and the rebels. Asked about the
missiles and Israeli warnings that the deliveries of them would pose a
threat to Israel, the State Department's spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, said on
Wednesday: "We support Israel's ability to defend themselves,
certainly, but we remain hopeful and remain committed to working towards
a political transition. And that's what our focus is here on Syria, and
we remain concerned about the overflow impacts of the events that are
happening on the ground."
The Syrian government and the
opposition have hardened their positions in recent days, casting doubt
on the future of the proposed talks as each side declared a starting
point that is thoroughly unacceptable to the other.
On Wednesday,
the Syrian opposition said that Mr. Assad's departure was a
prerequisite of talks — a condition his government and Russia reject —
while Syria's foreign minister said that Mr. Assad would stay on at
least until 2014 and might seek re-election and that any peace agreement
would have to be approved by a referendum.
Mr. Assad's
statements — and the choice of the Hezbollah channel to deliver them —
added to the confrontational atmosphere. His statements were first
reported in the Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar and confirmed by Ali Rizk,
who performed the simultaneous translation of the interview to be
broadcast on Iran's Press TV.
Syrian rebel commanders have also
issued aggressive statements in recent days, threatening to attack
Hezbollah and even the Lebanese Army inside Lebanon if Hezbollah's
intervention is not halted.
Late Wednesday, Lebanon's president,
Michel Suleiman, a political ally of Hezbollah, issued an unusual
statement calling on Hezbollah to pull out of Syria for the sake of
Lebanese security and the integrity of the group's primary mission,
fighting Israel.
Lebanese politicians of every stripe have been
loath to directly confront Hezbollah, which fields the most seasoned and
influential military force in the country, trumping even the army. But
as rocket attacks on Hezbollah areas have increased along with sectarian
anger, a growing chorus has worried that Hezbollah and Lebanese Sunni
militants supporting the Syrian rebels are destabilizing the country.