US criticizes Syrian missile tests
AFP
Date: 06-03-05
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States confirmed that Syria had carried out new missile tests and said they were fresh proof Damascus was "out of step" with moves toward peace in the Middle East.
The New York Times, quoting Israeli military officials, reported that Syria had test-fired three Scud missiles a week ago. It said one of them broke up over Turkey but caused no injuries.
"We're aware of the missiles that were launched, and I think that I'll just leave it at that," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan, declining to comment further.
The State Department's new spokesman Sean McCormack said of the reported test that "we have information that indicates that it did occur" although he could not confirm a missile hit Turkey.
"And I would just add that it's one more example of Syria being out of step with what's going on in the rest of the region," McCormack told his first daily briefing.
He said the United States had long accused Syria of seeking to acquire weapons of mass destruction and the ability to deliver them, while countries like Iraq and Lebanon were focused on political and economic development.
"I just think that this type of step is -- when you look at the rest of what's going on in the region and the efforts that people are taking to try to develop a more peaceful, a more stable, a more harmonious region -- it's just a discordant note."
The Times quoted the Israelis as saying there was nothing unusual about Syria's first missile tests since 2001 other than the strike in Turkey, but they made them public because they were puzzled by the US silence.
The officials told the daily that the tests -- involving an older Scud B with a range of 300 kilometers (185 miles) and two Scud Ds with a range of 700 kilometers (435 miles) -- were part of a Syrian missile development project using North Korean technology.
The missiles, they said, were designed to deliver air-burst chemical weapons. Asked about a North Korean connection, McCormack said, "I don't have any information I can share with you on that."
The May 27 launchings, the Times reported, were Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's response to US and UN pressure that forced him to withdraw Syrian troops from neighboring Lebanon after the February assassination there of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri.
"This is really putting your fingers in the eyes of the Americans, saying, 'I'm not dancing to your flute,'" a senior Israeli military official told the newspaper.
"The tests are probably needed for the missile project, but this is (Assad) taking a risk here and sending a message."
The reports comes amid new tensions after the death Thursday of a prominent anti-Syrian journalist in Beirut in a bomb attack widely condemned at home and abroad. Syria angrily denied responsibility.
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