NY Times: Syria Provides Hezbollah with 10 Scud-D Missiles

07/12/2010 American daily New York Times quoted on Tuesday a Pentagon official as saying that Syria has provided Hezbollah with 10 Scud-D missiles, which are deadly accurate, noting that two of them were transferred to the Lebanese territories while the other eight remained in a Syrian base.

The daily said that US officials believe Hezbollah has acquired an arsenal of some 50,000 rockets and missiles, including some 40 to 50 Fatah-110 missiles and 10 Scud-D missiles, raising fears of an enlarged conflict with Israel.

A particularly grave concern was that Hezbollah had been provided with sophisticated Fatah-110 missiles, which are deadly accurate and would have the capacity to strike most of the occupied territories, including Tel Aviv.

The Times quoted a Pentagon official expressing concern over the Hezbollah arsenal, in response to a series of leaked diplomatic cables on the issue. The cables highlighted US concerns about proliferation of weapons, especially from Syria, the daily said.

The arsenal acquisition by Hezbollah has raised fears that any future conflict with Israel could erupt into a full-scale regional war, the New York Times said.

According to the New York Times, the cables note that Israeli officials told American officials in November 2009 that if war broke out, they assumed that Hezbollah would try to launch 400 to 600 rockets at day and sustain the attacks for at least two months. "The newly fortified Hezbollah has raised fears that any future conflict with Israel could erupt into a full-scale regional war," the report said.

In one cable given to the paper by WikiLeaks, Syrian President Bashar Assad is reprimanded for supplying sophisticated weapons to Hezbollah one week after providing assurances he would not. "In our meetings last week it was stated that Syria is not transferring any 'new' missiles to Lebanese Hezbollah," said the cable sent by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in February. "We are aware, however, of current Syrian efforts to supply Hezbollah with ballistic missiles. I must stress that this activity is of deep concern to my government, and we strongly caution you against such a serious escalation."

A senior official at the Syrian foreign ministry rejected the allegations, but nine months on the flow is unchecked, The New York Times said, citing Pentagon officials.

The New York Times report said that according to an American cable, the Syrian official argued that Hezbollah would not take military action if not provoked and expressed surprise at the stern American protest. The complaint, he said, “shows the US has not come to a mature position that would enable it to differentiate between its own interests and Israel’s.”

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