Foreign Correspondence

[Amaunet]

Syrian Presidential Palace No-Fly Zone for Israeli Jets — Putin

Created: 21.04.2005 11:55 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 11:55 MSK, 9 hours 1 minute ago


MosNews


The latest statement by Russia’s Vladimir Putin on the sale of missiles to Syria is likely to reignite a bitter political scandal with Israel. In an interview to Israeli television ahead of his visit there the Russian leader confirmed that Moscow had agreed with Damascus on deliveries of high-precision SA-18, or Igla tactical missile complexes.

When asked by Channel 1’s Ayala Hasson if Israel had grounds for security fears as a result of the deal, the Russian president said that Israeli planes would no longer be allowed to fly over the palace of the Syrian president. However, the Russian president reassured Israel, claiming that the deal would not change the balance of power in the region.

Interestingly, the interview was shown immediately after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice left Russia where she had met Putin.

Earlier, Israel and the United States repeatedly voiced serious concern over Russian plans to sell the SA-18 missiles and state-of-the-art Iskander complexes to Damascus.

In January Russian-Israeli relations were brought to the brink of a serious crisis due to Moscow’s determination to sell Iskander high-precision tactical missile complexes to Syria.

Although not exactly the same planned missile deal that worried Jerusalem earlier this year, it is nonetheless very similar.

Israel was extremely concerned that if the Iskanders were deployed, for example, near the demarcation line in the Golan Heights area, virtually all of Israel would be within the missiles’ range. They would be able to hit targets in Israel with an accuracy range of 20 meters, Russia’s Kommersant wrote.

In late January Syrian President Bashar Assad visited Russia where it was agreed that Moscow would partially write off Syria’s $10 billion debt.

http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/04/21/putinsyria.shtml