Not supplying Stinger missiles to Syrian rebels: U.S.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Wednesday it had not supplied Stinger missiles to Syrian rebel forces and appeared to question intelligence from Moscow that the U.S.-made surface-to-air missiles had made their way into the opposition's hands.

Stinger missiles would help bring down Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's warplanes and helicopters, which have bombed residential areas where rebels are hiding. More than 32,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

But in contrast to the Libya crisis last year, the West has shown little appetite to arm the Syrian rebels, worried that weapons would fall into the hands of Islamic militants.

Russia's top military officer Nikolai Makarov, the general staff chief, said Russia's military had learned that rebel forces "have portable missile launchers of various states, including American-made Stingers.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters at the Pentagon that "I certainly don't know of us providing any such missiles in that area."

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the United States had provided no lethal assistance to rebel forces whatsoever, including Stingers.

"Nor will we," Nuland said.

Asked about the possibility that Stingers reached the rebels through a third party, she said: "If the Russian Federation has evidence of Stingers in the hands of the opposition, we'd like to see it."

Opposition activist footage has shown rebels carrying surface-to-air missiles made by the former Soviet Union, but footage of Stingers has yet to appear. Last week, activists posted videos of what they said was a Syrian military helicopter spiraling to the ground and exploding in flames.

Stingers are among the types of shoulder-fired, surface-to-air missiles commonly referred to as MANPADs.

"All of the images that we have seen of MANPADs and MANPAD-like equipment in Syria has been exclusively of a Soviet/Warsaw Pact vintage. The SA-7 type vintage," Nuland said.

"We have not seen evidence of Stingers."

Russia, which has supported Assad through the conflict, sold his government $1 billion worth of weapons last year and has made clear it would oppose an arms embargo in the U.N. Security Council.

The question of whether to arm the rebels has become an issue in the U.S. presidential election, with Republican candidate Mitt Romney accusing President Barack Obama of failing to show leadership in this area.

In their debate on Monday, Romney said the United States should work with partners to organize the Syrian opposition and "make sure they have the arms necessary to defend themselves."

Obama said Romney was wrong to suggest that giving rebels heavy weapons "is a simple proposition that would lead us to be safer over the long term."

Still, France's foreign minister warned last week that the rebels had already acquired heavy weapons - forcing the government's air force to bomb rebel-held zones indiscriminately from high altitude.

(Editing by Paul Eckert, Vicki Allen and Philip Barbara)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/not-supplying-stinger-missiles-syrian-rebels-u-200026083--finance.html

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