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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Russia to ship S-300 to Syria |
| 2013-06-08 |
| Moscow said it was being forced to send the S-300 system to Syria's president to prevent Western "hotheads" from intervening in the country's civil war. It came after Britain succeeded in persuading the European Union not to renew an embargo on supplying weapons to Syria's opposition forces. William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, said the late night deal meant Britain could begin arming the rebels from now. However, the move sparked fury in Russia, which has been implacably opposed to Western efforts to unseat Mr Assad. Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said it could amount to a violation of international law. "In essence, this is an illegitimate decision and principle - to seriously discuss at an official level the theme of delivering or not delivering weapons to non-state parties contradicts all norms of international law," he said. Sergei Ryabkov, Mr Lavrov's deputy, declared the EU's decision would force Russia to ship a sophisticated air defence system to Mr Assad's regime. "I can only say that we are going ahead with it," Mr Ryabkov said. "We believe that such steps go a long way to restraining some 'hot-heads' from exploring scenarios in which this conflict could be given an international character with participation of outside forces." Syria’s government criticised the announcement, denouncing it as an “obstruction” to peace efforts. As fears grew of an arms race in the region, Israel added to the growing sense of escalation by saying it would not stand by while the S-300 missiles were deployed. "As far as we are concerned, that is a threat," Moshe Yaalon, the Israeli defence minister, said. "At this stage I can't say there is an escalation. The shipments have not been sent on their way yet. And I hope that they will not be sent. "If God forbid they do reach Syria, we will know what to do." The EU arms embargo on supplying weapons to Syria's rebels had been in place since May 2011. It was due to be renewed at the end of this month, but it was allowed to lapse following late-night negotiations in Brussels on Monday. As part of the deal, Britain and France had apparently agreed to delay any arms shipments until August. However, Mr Hague insisted that Britain could begin supplying weapons much sooner. "We have said we have made our own commitments that at this stage as we work for the Geneva conference we are not taking any decision to send any arms to anyone," he said. "But that is not related to a date of August 1. "I don't want anyone to think that therefore there is any automatic decision after August 1 or that we are excluded from doing so beforehand." Downing Street said the pledge to provide military support to rebels should help force the regime of Mr Assad to negotiate at an international conference due to open next month in Geneva. "The prime minister's view is that it is right that we have the flexibility to respond if Assad's regime refused to negotiate. What we are doing is sending a signal, loud and clear, to the regime," a spokesman said. The White House said that it backed the drive by Britain and France to ensure that Syrian rebels were capable of taking on the regime, which has launched an offensive to retake opposition territory in the run-up to an international peace conference next month. However, Russia said the decision placed the peace conference - and particularly the Assad regime's participation in it - in serious jeopardy. Mr Ryabkov accused the EU of "double standards" while Mr Lavrov said a "whole range of activities" were being undertaken to disrupt the idea of convening the conference. The British Government's strong stance on arming the rebels came under rare criticism from the Labour Party, with Douglas Alexander calling for a promise that MPs would be given a say on shipments. "Syria is awash with arms, and today it remains unclear how escalating the conflict with British-supplied weapons would help bring about a peaceful political transition after two years of increasing violence," he said. Meanwhile the Syrian rebels said they were in danger of suffering catastrophic defeats if shipments were delayed until August or later. Any help that eventually comes from London or Paris would be too little, too late, Gen Salim Idris, the head of the Supreme Military Council said. "We are very disappointed," he said. "They lift the arms embargo and I don't know what they are waiting for." |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #2 What is the Israeli word for "please don't"? Oh, yes, "kaboomski".... |
| Posted by: Uncle Phester 2013-06-08 09:40 |
| #1 IIRC this Artic came out on the MSM-Net about the same time other related Artics were describing how Moscow had NOT actually sent the Missles yet. Anyhoo, by most accounts it appears that Russia's plans to deter any Israeli andor US airstrike(s) on Iran's NucProgs. Iff this move proves correct, it can be said that Russia is covertly counting on Iran BFF Syria to share the Tech. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2013-06-08 01:15 |