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06/03/2005:

"Israel Says Syria Test - Fires Missiles Over Turkey"

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Syria test-fired three Scud missiles last week, including one that broke up over Turkey, senior Israeli security officials said on Friday.

The officials, citing intelligence data, said the missiles, using North Korean technology and designed to carry chemical warheads, were fired last Friday from northern Syria in the first such tests by Israel's arch-foe since 2001.

In New York, Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said the Syrian tests were ``very dangerous.''

Speaking after talks with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, he said: ``This arms race in our region is something that we can't accept.''

There was no comment from Damascus.

Israeli security officials said one of the missiles was fired by Syria southwest toward the Mediterranean and it disintegrated over the Turkish province of Hatay, shedding debris over two villages.

The New York Times, which first reported Israel's allegations, quoted the Turkish ambassador in Washington, Osman Faruk Logoglu, as confirming that ``during a (Syrian) military exercise, there was a technical mishap.''

``The Syrian government was sorry about this,'' Logoglu said, adding that there were no casualties in the May 27 incident.

According to Israeli officials, the missiles were a Scud B, with a range of about 200 km (120 miles), and two Scud Ds, with a range of about 700 km (420 miles).

The officials said that the Jewish state had long monitored Syria's missile program and saw nothing particularly surprising in the latest tests.

Shalom said Iran, Israel's arch foe, was also developing long range missiles. Earlier this week, Iran said it had upgraded its Shahab-3 missile, already capable of hitting Israel, with solid fuel which could increase its range and accuracy.

``The whole international community should focus on trying to prevent the Syrians, the Iranians -- and maybe some other countries that will follow them a short time after -- from trying to develop those missiles,'' Shalom said.

``They will escalate the situation in the Middle East.''
Full: nytimes.com

Look who's talking. And boys, there can only be one 'arch foe,' though repeating it twice is good for effect. Throwing in North Korea was nice too.