Moscow asks Syria to limit response if attacked

DAMASCUS, July 25 (Reuters) Moscow has asked Syria not to use Russian missiles to retaliate if attacked by Israel, diplomats said today.

Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov delivered the message to senior Syrian officials in Damascus last week, as the risk of Israel's Lebanese offensive expanding into a regional war rose, the diplomats said.

''Saltanov told them Syria can use Russian anti-aircraft missiles to thwart Israeli air attacks, but that Russia objected to using Russian Scuds to retaliate,'' one diplomat, who did not want to be identified, said.

''The Russians don't want their missiles to hit Israeli cities.

Syria, however, has more advanced North Korean missiles,'' another diplomat said.

Syria, which relied on Russia for military supplies during the 1970s and 80s, has diversified its arsenal in recent years to include Chinese and North Korean weapons.

Diplomats say Syria has a formidable stock of surface-to-surface missiles that can hit deep into Israel, plus an array of Russian surface-to-air batteries.

Although no longer as close to Syria as during the Soviet era, Russia has called for a ceasefire in Lebanon and criticised the ferocity of Israeli attacks, saying they went beyond the anti-Hizbollah operation Israel said it was conducting.

Israel says Syria, a main backer of Hizbollah, has supplied the Lebanese group with weapons since the war began on July 12, although Israel's army has said it has no intention of expanding the offensive beyond Lebanon's border.

Syria has said it has only supplied humanitarian goods to Lebanon and vowed to retaliate if attacked by Israel.

Syria did not respond in 2003 when Israel attacked the base of a militant Palestinian group inside Syrian territory.

REUTERS MQA BD2101