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More Signs Of Apocalypse? Syria Deploys Thousands of Missiles To
Israel's Border
Mar 11th, 2007 11:47 AM
Syria deploys rockets along Israel border
* Israeli sources fear military build-up represents war preparation
* EU foreign policy chief to include Syria in ME visit
JERUSALEM/BRUSSELS: Israel said on Friday that Syria had positioned
along its border with the Jewish state thousands of medium- and long-
range rockets capable of striking major town across the north of the
country, the same day the European Union (EU) confirmed that its
foreign policy chief was preparing to visit Damascus.
Talking to AFP on condition of anonymity, Israeli military and
government sources said that the Jewish state viewed the Syrian
deployment, coupled with other recent reports of troop mobilisation,
as an indication that Damascus might be preparing for future =E2=80=9Clow
intensity warfare=E2=80=9D against Israel.
=E2=80=9CWe have noticed that in recent months Syria has deployed hundreds,
possibly thousands, of medium- and long-range rockets along the border
(with Israel),=E2=80=9D one military source said.
=E2=80=9CMany of the rockets are hidden in underground chambers and in
camouflaged silos, which make them very difficult to locate,=E2=80=9D the
source added.
The sources, three of whom were from the military and two from the
government, said that Syria had built a system of fortified
underground tunnels along its border with Israel, which they said
posed =E2=80=9Ca real strategic threat=E2=80=9D to the Jewish state.
One government source described the move as evidence of Syria
=E2=80=9Cinvesting in fields where it can have an edge=E2=80=9D, given that=
Israel=E2=80=99s
advanced air force and =E2=80=9Csmart weapons=E2=80=9D afforded the Jewish =
state
=E2=80=9Cabsolute superiority in several fields in warfare=E2=80=9D.
The source went on to explain that Syria =E2=80=9Chas invested in recent ye=
ars
in anti-aircraft weapons, rockets, missiles and bunkers=E2=80=9D, adding th=
at
last year=E2=80=99s Israeli war on Lebanon, in which the Jewish state found
itself unable to overpower Hezbollah, =E2=80=9Cproved to the Syrians that t=
hey
were right to do so=E2=80=9D. Government sources said that this explained w=
hy
Syria was concluding a deal with Russia to procure thousands of
advanced anti-tank missiles, of the sort that Hezbollah used against
the Israeli army during last summer=E2=80=99s conflict.
These concerns over a possible imminent Syrian attack on Israel have
also been echoed by Israeli experts. Speaking to AFP, Begin-Saadat
Centre for Strategic Studies Director Ephraim Inbar said: =E2=80=9CSyrian
President Bashar al-Assad realised after the Lebanon war (last year)
that Israel was not as strong as it seems and that it could be
threatened by simple means rather than an advanced army.=E2=80=9D
Inbar also appeared to agree with military sources when he said that
=E2=80=9CAssad could be preparing for low intensity war, a type of war of
attrition with Israel, where Syria fires several rockets against
Israel without provoking full-fledged war=E2=80=9D.
However, Israel=E2=80=99s military intelligence chief, Major General Amod
Yadlin, told the government=E2=80=99s annual intelligence assessment that
while Syria was beefing up its military, war between the two
neighbouring countries was unlikely in 2007.
The concern, he said, was not that Syria would initiate a full-scale
war against Israel, but that Damascus would react militarily against
Israeli military moves.
Reports of the Syrian build-up comes two weeks after the Jewish state
held war games in the occupied Golan Heights, captured from Syria in
1967, in a bid to learn the lessons of last summer=E2=80=99s conflict with
Lebanon.
Meanwhile on Friday, Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern said that EU
foreign policy chief Javier Solana was scheduled to visit Syria next
week for talks on Lebanon and Middle Eastern peace, in move that would
end the bloc=E2=80=99s freeze on high-level contacts with Damascus.
French President Jacques Chirac had been blocking EU contacts with
Syria over the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister
Rafik al-Hariri.
Prior to the Irish foreign minister=E2=80=99s disclosure, Solana had only
confirmed that he was scheduled on Monday to visit Saudi Arabia and
Lebanon. agencies
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