Hezbollah gets medium-range missiles, German magazine claims

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Saturday October 7, 2006

Munich- The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah possesses medium-range missiles capable of striking targets in Turkey and Crete, the German news magazine Focus reported Saturday. The arms were produced in Iran and transported by road via Syria, the magazine quoted from what it said was a top-secret report by the German foreign intelligence service BND.

The missiles, which have a range of up to 1,000 kilometres, were delivered on the orders of the government in Tehran, according to the article released in advance of publication on Monday.

The BND dismissed the Focus report as false and "lacking in substance."

According to the magazine, the Shiite militia also received large quantities of rocket launchers, other weapons and ammunition.

It quoted BND experts as saying that Hezbollah had replenished its arsenal since the end of fighting with Israel on August 14 and was in some ways stronger militarily than before the conflict erupted.

The magazine quoted a high-ranking BND official as saying the deployment of German navy ships off the coast of Lebanon as part of a UN mission to stop arms smuggling "is nothing more than a show. Hezbollah is bursting with strength."

Hezbollah fired hundreds of short-range missiles into Israeli territory during the month-long war that began after the militants captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12.

Some 157 Israelis were killed in the conflict, which claimed the lives of at least 1,110 people in Lebanon.

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency