ONCE again, Scud missiles and Hezbollah’s military capabilities seem to be the chief concern for the US administration and Israeli government.
Though two US officials said last week there were ‘no indications’ any Scud rockets were transported into Lebanon, however Secretary of Defence Robert Gates said on Tuesday that Syria and Iran are providing Hezbollah with rockets and missiles of ever-increasing capability in a clear hint to Scud missiles.
Following a meeting with Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday during which Iran and the rearming of Hezbollah were major topics, Gates said that Hezbollah was at a point where it ‘has far more rockets and missiles than most governments in the world’.
The two officials did not elaborate on the types of missiles, but the comments followed claims made in recent days that Hezbollah had received Scud missiles, which are capable of hitting wide areas within the Zionist entity.
Barak said that Syria was providing Hezbollah with weapon systems which could change the delicate balance in Lebanon.
He noted that Israel was closely watching the developments.
Reports of the alleged Scud transfer surfaced in Kuwait’s Al-Rai newspaper earlier this month.
Israel subsequently issued a stern warning that it would consider attacking both Syrian and Lebanese targets in response to a Scud attack on its territory.
Egypt then warned of a new escalation between Israel and Lebanon and sent a letter on Tuesday to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in an effort to ‘defuse tensions’ between the two countries.
Egyptian President Husni Mubarak reassured Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Tuesday that Israel does not plan to attack his country.
Also on Tuesday, Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Oren told CNN that although ‘the fact of the matter is the Syrians have been providing missiles to Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israel has ‘no intention of attacking Lebanon, Syria or anybody else in the Middle East’.
Barak and Gates avoided answering questions on the joint military exercise held by Turkey and Syria. Asked by Ynet whether Israel was concerned by the exercise, the Israeli defence minister replied that ‘Israel was strong enough to hold peace negotiations with its neighbours’.
‘The Iranian threat’ was one of the main issues discussed during the meeting.
Without taking into consideration that Israel is believed to be the sole nuclear power in the Middle East with more than 200 nuclear warheads, Barak said that dealing with Iran’s nuclear programme was a challenge to world order.
‘The time is clearly, at this stage, the time for sanctions and diplomacy,’ he said.
He added that the United States was doing the right thing and was the only power capable of motivating the world and the Europeans to create efficient sanctions against Iran.
Barak said Israel expected sanctions to be ‘effective and to be limited in time so we will be able to judge to whether, what kind of results, stem from the sanctions regime’.
His host said that he was satisfied with Pentagon planning to counter the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear programme.
‘I’m very satisfied with the planning process both within this building and in the inter-agency.
‘We spend a lot of time on Iran and we’ll continue to do so,’ Gates told reporters.
For its part, Hezbollah has shot back at the US accusations it was stockpiling sophisticated weapons and vowed to continue to build its artillery, in comments published on Wednesday.
‘Our choice was and remains to secure all the arms of resistance that we can,’ Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary bloc MP Hassan Fadlallah told the Lebanese daily As-Safir.
Hezbollah’s arms do not compare to ‘the level of armament of the United States, which it used in its crimes against peoples around the world, from Hiroshima to the more than 100,000 martyrs killed in Iraq and the tens of thousands killed in Palestine, Lebanon and Afghanistan,’ Fadlallah said.
He added, ‘There is a difference between arms which only serve invasions, occupations and aggressions, such as those of the United States and its ally Israel . . . and the arms of a resistance which defends, protects, and liberates.’
UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams on Wednesday ruled out the possibility of war between Lebanon and Israel stressing it was in the interest of all parties to abide by Security Council Resolution 1701.
‘I don’t believe there will be war. I think there is too much at stake to lose for all the parties,’ Williams said following talks with Premier Saad Hariri at the Grand Serail.
‘I think tensions have been high the last few days. But I hope that those will lower now.’
Williams said he discussed with Hariri the tension that rose as a result of allegations and counter-allegations made in recent days over the alleged Syrian transfer of Scud missiles to Hezbollah.
‘I commended Prime Minister Hariri for his efforts to reduce tension and especially his visit yesterday to Sharm el-Sheikh to meet with President Husni Mubarak of Egypt,’ the UN official said.
‘I am convinced that it remains in the interest of all parties to abide by Resolution 1701 and to preserve the cessation of hostilities,’ he told reporters.
Speaker Nabih Berri said on Wednesday that bringing up the issue of Scud missiles is a ploy aimed at turning attention away from attempts to drag the Palestinian Authority into negotiations without any guarantees to end settlement expansion in occupied Jerusalem and other areas.
Berri was quoted by lawmakers who attended the weekly Wednesday meeting as saying that this is all a ‘cover up for the complications in US-Israeli relations’.
‘Israel has all sorts of modern warplanes and its entire arsenal is superior to those of Arab states.
‘It is our right to defend ourselves through all possible means.’
