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Putin says Syrian missile sale no threat to Israel

* President says no chill in Russian-US relations

JERUSALEM: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday dismissed concerns by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon over Moscow’s sale of missiles to Syria, saying the weapons would not fall into the hands of anti-Israeli militants.

Putin, due to visit the Jewish state next week, told Israel’s Channel 1 television Russia would be able to monitor what happened to the short-range, anti-aircraft missiles it had sold to Syria.

“(The weapons) cannot be transferred to terror organisations without someone finding out,” Channel 1 translated Putin as saying from Russian. “We have the capabilities to monitor them.”

Sharon said on Thursday the missiles posed a danger to Israel and that he intended to raise the issue during Putin’s visit, the first to Israel by a Kremlim leader. Putin said he visited Israel 10 years ago before he was elected president.

Israel opposes the arms deal, fearing the missiles could fall into the hands of the Lebanese guerrilla group Hizbollah or Palestinian militant factions for use against Israeli aircraft. The Jewish state remains in a state of war with Syria, which wants to recover the Golan Heights that Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war, and has attacked Syrian targets in the past that it says were used by militants. Putin said the arms sale “would make it tough for anyone to fly over Syria at a low altitude”.

Russia says the Strelet missiles involved in the deal are vehicle-mounted and cannot be turned into shoulder-fired rockets. Israel rejects the explanation and Western defence analysts say the weapons could be taken apart and made portable. The United States, Israel’s closest ally, has also raised concerns about the sale. Russia says it carries out arms exports in accordance with international law and would do nothing that would destabilise the Middle East.

Russia-US relations: Russian President Vladimir Putin denied on Friday there had been a cooling in relations between Moscow and the United States, saying he had “very good personal ties” with President George W Bush.

“Russia and the United States have a great deal of common interests and joint work. This lies at the basis of our very good personal relations with the US president,” Putin said in an interview with Israel’s First channel, a text of which was provided by the Kremlin press service. Putin described Washington and Moscow’s position on Iran’s nuclear program and the Middle East peace process as “very close”.

“I know the US president voiced his support for the (Middle East) roadmap peace plan, and I am of the same opinion,” he said.

The roadmap is a phased plan which aims to end nearly five years of violence in the region by creating an independent Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel. agencies

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