Syrian crisis: U.S., Germany warn Russia not to send Assad advanced missiles

Secretary of State John Kerry, right, gestures as he speaks during a news conference with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle at the State Department in Washington, Friday, May 31, 2013. The U.S. and Germany say Russia must not provide the Assad regime of Syria with an advanced air defense system that they believe could prolong Syria's civil war.

Πηγή: The Sun
By AP
May 31 2013

WASHINGTON - The United States and Germany on Friday warned Russia not to endanger a planned peace conference for Syria or alter the balance of power in the Middle East by providing an advanced air defense system to President Bashar Assad's embattled regime.

Secretary of State John Kerry and German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said the transfer of S-300 missile from Russia to Syria would prolong the country's civil war, imperil attempts to form a transitional government through negotiation and hurt Israel's strategic interests.

"It is not helpful to have the S-300 transferred to the region while we are trying to organize this peace (conference) and create peace," Kerry told reporters at a joint news conference with Westerwelle after they met at the State Department.

"We ask them again not to upset the balance within the region with respect to Israel," he said. "The weaponry that is being provided Assad whether it is an old contract or not, has a profoundly negative impact on the balance of interests and the stability of the region and it does put Israel at risk. It is not in our judgment responsible because of the size of the weapons, the nature of the weapons and what it does to the region in terms of Israel's security, so we hope that they will refrain from that in the interests of making this peace conference work."

Westerwelle called on Russia not to "spoil" the conference, which was planned for Geneva next month but has been delayed until July at the earliest.

"Don't endanger the peace conference in Geneva," he said. "The delivery of weapons to the Assad regime is totally wrong ... It is the wrong message which has been sent by our colleagues in Russia to the world and to the region by delivering S-300s or other parts of weapons."

Kerry and Westerwelle spoke a day after Assad suggested that his regime received a first shipment of the state-of-the-art anti-aircraft system, which would reduce pressure on it to negotiate with the opposition, make foreign intervention more difficult and alarm Israel. The United States has made Israel's qualitative military edge one of its prime strategic interests in the region.

Russian officials have said they will supply the S-300s to Syria under an existing contract. They have also said that they will try to convince the Assad regime to participate in the Geneva peace talks. But the Syrian opposition has said it will not attend the conference while massacres are continuing.

Kerry said he believed the opposition would attend the meeting once it straightens out questions about its leadership.

He also warned anew that the use of chemical weapons is a "red line" for the Obama administration. At the same time, he said intelligence and evidence that such weapons have, in fact, been used, is still being vetted for 100-percent certainty.

"We are doing our due diligence, as we should do given past experience, to make certain that the intelligence is correct, that the evidence is real and then make judgments that are appropriate," Kerry said.

NATO concerned about 10k lost missiles in Libya: Report

A Libyan rebel loads a missile on the frontline south of the town of Bir Ghanam.

Πηγή: Timeslive
By AFP
Oct 2 2011


At least 10 000 missiles are unaccounted for in Libya, a senior Nato official has admitted according to a German media report on Sunday, amid fears the weapons could fall into the hands of al-Qaeda.

News weekly Der Spiegel reported on its website that Admiral Giampaolo di Paola, who chairs the committee of Nato military chiefs, held a secret briefing for German MPs on Monday, in which he expressed the alliance's concerns.

The weapons could end up in other countries and in the wrong hands, the admiral said, according to Spiegel, "anywhere from Kenya to Kunduz" in Afghanistan.

The missiles present "a serious threat to civil aviation," the Italian admiral reportedly said.

The reported comments echoed remarks made by a military official of Libya's new leadership on Saturday.

General Mohammed Adia, in charge of armaments at the defence ministry, told reporters that "about 5 000" SAM-7 anti-aircraft rockets were missing.

"Unfortunately, some of these missiles could have fallen into the wrong hands ... abroad," the general told reporters at a former arms depot of ousted Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi in Benghazi.

The US has said it is working closely with Libya's new interim leaders to secure arms stockpiles, amid concerns over weapons proliferation.

The US State Department has provided $3 million to help destroy weapons.

Report: 20,000 missiles have disappeared in Libya

'Matching up a terrorist with a shoulder-fired missile, that's our worst nightmare,' Sen. Barbara Boxer says

Πηγή: msnbc
Sep. 27 2011


Some 20,000 missiles have gone missing in Libya, ABC News reported Tuesday, raising fears that they have fallen into the wrong hands in an unstable region.

But Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director for Human Rights Watch, warned about the thefts six months ago, ABC said. On one recent trip to Libya he even took pictures of missiles being driven away in trucks.

"I myself could have removed several hundred if I wanted to, and people can literally drive up with pickup tricks or even 18-wheelers and take away whatever they want," Bouckaert said.

The missing weapons are an estimated 20,000 Russian-made portable heat-seeking missiles, ABC reported. They reportedly weigh only 55 pounds and have a range of two miles.

"Matching up a terrorist with a shoulder-fired missile, that's our worst nightmare," Democratic California Senator Barbara Boxer said.

Boxer, a member of the Senate's Commerce, Energy and Transportation Committee, was planning to ask the Department of Defense on Tuesday to equip 500 American passenger jets that fly overseas with new technology that repels heat-seeking missiles from aircraft, ABC reported.

The technology would give civilian planes the same protection that military aircraft have.

Human Rights Watch's Bouckaert, who has been searching Tripoli for abandoned weapons for months, told The Associated Press last month that a number of weapons warehouses were poorly guarded and appeared to have been heavily looted.

"The problem is that the locals usually find out first and by the time we arrive and we can get some guards there, a lot of the most dangerous weapons have already been taken away," he said.