Caucasus states say not approached about US shield

TBILISI, Mar 2 (Reuters) Three ex-Soviet states in the Caucasus said today that Washington had not yet asked them to host a controversial anti-missile shield -- a move which would be certain to anger Russia.

The head of the US Missile Defense Agency said yesterday Washington could be interested in locating a radar in an unspecified Caucasus state as part of the Missile Defence System it plans to deploy in Central Europe.

US Air Force Lt Gen Henry Obering said having a radar in the Caucasus region, located just south of Russia, would be ''useful, but not essential''. He did not specify a country.

Washington says it wants the system, consisting of radar stations and batteries of interceptor missiles, to shoot down hostile rockets launched by terrorists or ''rogue states''.

Moscow believes the shield threatens its national security and has promised to counter it with existing and future weapons.

''We did not get such a proposal yet,'' Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili told Reuters. Azeribaijan and Armenian foreign ministries made similar statements.

Poland and the Czech Republic -- both former Soviet satellites -- have already indicated they would be in favour of hosting part of a shield network. A similar sentiment may prove popular in Georgia, where anti-Russia feelings run high and the government is keen to draw closer to the West.

''I think any kind of Georgia's integration into European structures, including the military, would be good for our country,'' Nika Rurua, deputy head of the parliamentary defence and security committee told Reuters.

In Moscow, the Kremlin declined to comment on Obering's remarks but the Russian military played down their significance.

''We have everything needed to adequately respond to all these deployments,'' Russian news agencies quoted Russia's Air Force commander General Vladimir Mikhailov as saying. ''They have lots of cash, let them spend it.'' Mikhailov said Russia's answer to the US idea was the S-400, the latest generation of Russian air defence missiles, which have a range of 400 km.

However, any firm US plan to deploy elements of the anti-missile shield in the three ex-Soviet Caucasus republics is sure to provoke a strong political reaction from Moscow.

Russian politicians blame Washington for deliberately provoking tension in Moscow's relations with ex-Soviet republics by trying to pull them out of its orbit.

US ambassador in Georgia John Tefft earlier this week denied plans to deploy elements of the Missile Defence System in Georgia.

REUTERS SP BST1952