REPORT: Russia to fulfill Syria missile system contract

         
Russia will honor its controversial contract to deliver S-300 air defense missile systems to Syria, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday.              

"We respect all our contracts and are honoring all our contractual obligations," Lavrov said in an interview with state-run Rossiya 24 TV. "As yet, the contracts are not finished, they have not been delivered in full," he added.             

Russia last month acknowledged it has agreed to sell Syria advanced S-300 air-defense missiles, which are considered to be the cutting edge in aircraft interception technology.               

Russia has stood by Syrian President Bashar Assad during the two-year civil war, blocking several U.N. resolutions and calls for his ouster. The death toll from the conflict is at least 93,000.             

Lavrov said that Russia would block all demands for the Assad government's resignation at a planned peace conference to be held in Geneva. He said those calls were a "direct affront to us and the Americans" from unnamed Gulf states.             

No date has been set for the conference, which Lavrov blamed on Western countries' fears they would not be able to "prevail upon" the Syrian opposition to attend.  
           
Lavrov renewed Russia's objections to a potential no-fly zone in Syria, which the S-300 systems would make extremely difficult to implement, and said Western plans to arm the opposition would see most weapons fall into the hands of Jabhat al-Nusra, an al-Qaeda affiliate that is believed to be among the most effective rebel factions. 

On the field:

A mortar shell from the Syrian side hit the Israeli-occupied sector of the Golan Heights, a spokeswoman of the Israeli army said.           

She added that there were no damages or injuries, noting that the blast was "apparently linked to Syria's internal situation".          

Tensions run high in the Golan since the onset of the Syrian conflict more than two years ago, but so far, there have only been minor flare-ups.             

The Syrian uprising began in March 2011 with peaceful protests against Assad, but later grew into a civil war in response to a brutal military crackdown.           

U.S. officials estimate that 5,000 Hezbollah members are fighting alongside the regime, while thousands of Sunni foreign fighters are also believed to be in Syria  including members of Jabhat al-Nusra, an al-Qaeda affiliate that is believed to be among the most effective rebel factions.         

Hezbollah fighters were instrumental in a recent victory for regime forces, regaining control of the strategic town of Qusayr in central Homs province after it was in rebel hands for more than a year.               


LBCI/AP


To watch the full LBCI report, please click on the video above.