Last update - 05:38 03/06/2005 This appeared today in Haretz,by quoting AP it appears the press got around military censors; i.e. Israel photo launch/flightof Syrian scud. Depending on direction aimed these scud can also reach western Iraq(US Troop concentrations/bases). S/F T Report: By The Associated Press NEW YORK - Syria test-fired three Scud missiles last Friday, including one that broke up over Turkish territory and showered missile parts down onto unsuspecting Turkish farmers, The New York Times quoted Israeli military officials as saying.
These were the first such Syrian missile tests since 2001, the paper's Web site quoted the Israelis as saying, and were part of a Syrian missile development project using North Korean technology and designed, the Israelis contend, to deliver air-burst chemical weapons. The missiles included one older Scud B, with a range of about 300 kilometers, and two Scud D's with a range of about 700 kilometers, the Times' sites said late Thursday, quoting Israeli officials. Little was especially startling about the tests, Israeli officials said, except the embarrassment to Turkey - a member of NATO - and the timing, during the Lebanese elections, the Times said. The Israeli military officials quoted by the Times said they interpreted the launchings as a gesture of defiance to the United States and the United Nations by Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has been pushed in a humiliating fashion to remove Syrian troops from Lebanon since the assassination of the anti-Syrian politician, Rafik Hariri. The Times said Israeli officials, who are familiar with the intelligence but asked that their names or departments not be identified, decided to publicize the tests in part because they were puzzled by the American silence about them, and because Israel sees them as part of a troubling pattern of behavior by Assad. Israel is particularly concerned about the Syrian missile program and the Syrian hold, now shaken, over bordering Lebanon. Syria harbors the leadership of the Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad and helps them, as well as the Iranian-sponsored Hezbollah, with money, arms and sponsorship. All the missiles were launched from northern Syria, near Minakh, north of Aleppo, the Times quoted the Israeli officials as saying. One was sent about 400 kilometers to southernmost Syria, near the Jordanian border. The one that broke up was fired southwest toward the Mediterranean, over the Turkish province of Hatay, the ancient Antioch, and shed debris over two villages there. The Israelis said they had film of the launching and breakup. In Washington, the Turkish ambassador, Osman Faruk Logoglu, told the Times there were no casualties in the incident on May 27. The Syrian ambassador was asked to explain and "said that during a military exercise, there was a technical mishap," the Times quoted Logoglu as saying, "and that the Syrian government was sorry about this." But the Israelis quoted by the Times noted that the test was the first time Syria had fired a missile over another country -a member of NATO -when Damascus could easily have moved its mobile launchers to the center of the country to avoid flight over Turkey altogether. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Take a look at donorschoose.org, an excellent charitable web site for anyone who cares about public education! http://us.click.yahoo.com/_OLuKD/8WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
