Israel Matzav

Russian warships headed for Syria

The Interfax news agency quoted a Russian naval official, who was not identified, as saying that the two amphibious assault ships would head for the Mediterranean port of Tartus, where Russia has its only warm-water naval base in the region. Russia has been the staunchest ally of Mr. Assad in the 16-month-old conflict, shielding the Damascus government from stern international measures to remove him from office.

Moscow is also Syria’s biggest arms supplier and the relationship provides Russia with its main foothold in Middle East diplomacy.

Interfax quoted the official as saying the ships were “ready to ensure security of Russian citizens and infrastructure of the Russian Navy logistics base” in Tartus.

The official said the crews “jointly with the marine units they carry are capable of protecting the security of Russian citizens and evacuating a part of the property of the logistics base.”

Talk of evacuation of material and “protection” of Russian citizens in Syria, who include military advisers, seemed to be one more sign of alarm about the deteriorating security situation there after United Nations monitors announced over the weekend that they were suspending their operations as violence mounts.

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Last Friday, Russia’s chief arms exporter said his company was shipping advanced defensive missile systems to Syria that could be used to shoot down airplanes or sink ships if the United States or other nations try to intervene to halt the country’s spiral of violence.

“I would like to say these mechanisms are really a good means of defense, a reliable defense against attacks from the air or sea,” Anatoly P. Isaykin, the general director of the company, Rosoboronexport, said Friday in an interview. “This is not a threat, but whoever is planning an attack should think about this.”

Labels: Bashar al-Assad, Russian weapons, Syrian uprising, Tartus

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:23 PM