Syria protested to the United Nations Wednesday that Israel was planning a pre-emptive strike ‘inside Syrian territory’ to knock out new and highly advanced long-range Soviet missiles, Damascus radio said.
There was no comment from Israel, although it previously reported – and Pentagon officials confirmed — that several SAM-5 anti-aircraft missiles had been deployed in Syria, threatening Israel air supremacy in all of Lebanon and northern Israel.
The state-run Damascus radio, monitored in Beirut, called the new SAM-5s ‘defensive weapons,’ adding ‘their mission is to protect national territory.’
It said Syrian Foreign Minister Abdel Halim Khaddam warned U.N. Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar that Israel revealed the installation of the missiles as an excuse to attack.
‘Such statements implicate an aggression against Syrian air defense installations inside Syrian territory,’ the radio said.
A U.N. spokesman in New York confirmed a message had been received from Syria, but said there likely would be no comment on it until Thursday.
