mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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 Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 1:09 pm Post subject: War Between Israel And Hizbollah "Imminent" |
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/7594964/War-between-Israel-and-Hizbollah-imminent-US-warned.html
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A war between Israel and Hizbollah that could spread across the Middle East is "imminent", King Abdullah of Jordan has warned the US.
His comments, which were made to private meeting of the US Congressional Friends of Jordan caucus were said to be "sobering".
Syria yesterday denied the allegation that it has provided Hizbollah with long-range Scud missiles, which would allowing them to target Israel's cities. The country's foreign ministry said the claims would be used as a pretext by Israel to raise tension prior to a possible attack on Hizbollah.
"For some time now, Israel has been running a campaign claiming that Syria has been supplying Hizbollah with Scud missiles in Lebanon ," a foreign ministry statement released yesterday said.
" Syria strongly denies these allegations which are an attempt by Israel to raise tensions in the region."
However, the statement did not appear to rule out an alternative possibility being raised by defence sources, that Damascus has allowed Hizbollah control of or access to Scud missiles still currently in Syria .
Similar sources say that Syria has trained Hizbollah operatives on advanced anti-aircraft batteries, possibly a more useful tool since Hizbollah � and the Lebanese army - fears the overwhelming air superiority enjoyed by Israeli jets.
The Obama administration voiced alarm, though one source said it was still not certain whether the transfer had yet physically taken place.
"We are obviously increasingly concerned about the sophisticated weaponry that is allegedly being transferred," said Robert Gibbs, the White House spokesman. "We have expressed our concerns to those governments and believe that steps should be taken to reduce any risk and any danger."
Allegations of the Scud transfer have continued to cause unease at a time when many other political issues in the Middle East are at an impasse.
Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister, said that the alleged transfer would alter the strategic balance of power between Hizbollah and Israel, which fought a short but bloody war in 2006.
An aide to Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said that the pace of Hizbollah's re-armament and Syria's role in it was causing growing alarm in the Jewish state.
"We are very conscious of the build-up of Hizbollah's military machine," the aide said. "We have unfortunately seen new types and greater quality of missiles. The Syrian role in passing those weapons to Hizbollah is ongoing and is dangerous."
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