Syria Today | Syria denies Scud missile allegations as US debates ambassadorial appointment

Syria denies Scud missile allegations as US debates ambassadorial appointment

Syria has denied allegations launched by Israel last month that it supplied Scud missiles to Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

Responding to allegations made by Israeli President Shimon Peres on April 12 that Syria supplied long-range Scud missiles to Hezbollah, a statement from the Embassy of Syria in Washington said the claims were an attempt to “justify a possible Israeli offensive and conflagration of violence” and “shatter any prospects for a future comprehensive peace proposal”.

“The Embassy of Syria in Washington finds that these allegations are an attempt to divert the world’s attention from Israel’s continued policies of ethnic cleansing, demonstrated by its recent order to expel 70,000 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank; house demolitions; and expansion of illegal settlements,” the statement said. It added that Israel was also attempting to “distract the world’s attention away from its massive nuclear weapons arsenal” and to “dictate arms control policies in our region while simultaneously stockpiling the most sophisticated, lethal weaponry system”.

The Scud allegations come after months of threats and counter-threats between Israel, Syria and Lebanon, hyping up speculation that there may be a new war. At the time Syria Today went to print, Hezbollah had given no official response to the allegations.

During an official visit to Italy, however, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri backed Syria’s denial, stating that the allegations had been concocted by Israel to threaten his country.

“These accusations are reminiscent of the weapons of mass destruction allegations against Saddam Hussein; they were never found, they did not exist,” Hariri told the Italian newspaper La Stampa on April 21. “Israel is trying to reproduce the same scenario for Lebanon. The rumours about Scuds are only a pretext for threatening my country.”

On April 19, the US State Department summoned the Syrian Embassy in Washington’s Deputy Chief of Mission Zouheir Jabbour to address what it called “provocative behaviour” over the alleged missile transfer.

In a statement released after the meeting, the State Department said it was still looking into whether the arms transfer had taken place, but added “the transfer of these arms can only have a destabilising effect on the region and would pose an immediate threat to both the security of Israel and the sovereignty of Lebanon”.

The allegations against Syria come as the US Senate decides whether to approve the appointment of career diplomat Robert Ford as the new US ambassador to Syria. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman defended the decision by US President Barack Obama to return an ambassador to Damascus after a five-year absence in front of a hostile congressional panel in Washington on April 21.

“President Assad is making decisions in a very dangerous and volatile region,” Feltman told the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs. “He is listening to people like [Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah, he is listening to people like [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad. We need to be making our message to him loud and clear and directly.”

Feltman refused to answer questions about the missile allegations during the hearing’s open session. He did say, however, that the US has repeatedly warned Damascus in recent months about the transfer of ballistic missiles and was pushing hard to stop any such shipments from taking place.

On April 19, Israel’s Defence Minister Ehud Barak told Israel’s Army Radio the country had no intention of starting a new war.