Kommersant: Belarus and Syria hide arms in buses

Military and technical cooperation of Belarus and Syria is masked by economic one.

Yesterday Bashar al-Assad, President of Syria, finished his two-day visit to Belarus, having signed a number of agreements about bilateral cooperation. In particular, Minsk plans to launch assembling of MAZ city buses in Syria. Agreements on development of military and technical cooperation have stayed behind the scenes, though it is known that Syria is one of the main buyers of Belarusian armaments. Just since the beginning of this year the sides have exchanges a few delegations which discussed the issues of the military-technical cooperation. It causes serious concern of the West, where Syria is listed among the countries sponsoring terrorism, Kommersant informs in an article with a cross heading “Belarus and Syria hide arms in buses”.

“Recently we have advanced in the trade, economic and political spheres, but it is nothing compared to what we can do,” Alyaksandr Lukashenka stated during the meeting with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad. “If Syria would be interested in something in Belarus, we are ready to work in these directions”.

Syrians have already been interested by city buses of Minsk automobile plant. During the talks it has been decided to launch assembly of buses from Belarusian spare parts in Syria. The sides have also signed an agreement on cooperation in the sphere of higher education, agriculture and even in the sphere of the Earth’s remote sounding. However, observers believe that publication of the agreement is just an addition and at the same time “a disguise” for the contracts which bring real money to Belarus, and that is agreements on arms sales.

The recent months were marked by considerable stepping-up of activities in this sphere. The sides have exchanged several delegations which were engaged in discussing the issues of the military-technical cooperation, including the level of the heads of the Foreign Ministries. And on April 25-30 a session of the joint Belarusian-Syrian commission on military cooperation took place. As Syrian mass media informed then, summing up the results of the session the sides “had reached agreement on all issues of the cooperation between the military-industrial complexes and armed forces of the two countries”.

According to experts, Damascus is set to continue sales of small arms, mortar launchers and ammunition including rocket-propelled missiles, in Belarus. “After the Soviet Union collapse, considerable of military equipment and ammunition holdings were left in Belarus. They were stored for the case of the war with the NATO,” Kommersant was explained by Igor Korotchenko, head of Center for Analysis of Global Arms Trade think tank. “Minsk does not need such a quantity of arms, and it continues to sell it out actively”. As Kommersant was told by director of the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies Ruslan Pukhov, Syria also shows interest to the products of Minsk wheeled motor traction vehicle plant, and would also like to use the potential of Belarusian defense enterprises for refurbishment and modernization of military equipment made in the Soviet Union. Experts believe that Damascus plans to continue purchases of air materiel in Belarus. Out of the latest most important bilateral contracts in the UN Register of Conventional Arms it is stated that in 2008 Belarus delivered to Syria 33 MiG-23 fighter aircrafts.

Meanwhile the close military cooperation of Minsk and Damascus evokes persistent irritation in the West, where Syria is considered a state sponsor of terrorism. The US and Israel state that there is absolute evidence that part of the arms bought by Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is forwarded to militants of Hezbollah, a Lebanese radical organization. Just half a year ago the US Congress adopted an act on tracking Belarusian arms deliveries. The document makes the US Department of State is to report to the Congress annually about “volumes and mechanisms of arms export and related services by the government of Belarus and Belarusian enterprises, including profits from these transactions”. In this connection the current visit of Syrian leader to Minsk can seriously undermine relations of Minsk with the West, which are somewhat clouded already.

And probably understanding that Alyaksandr Lukashenka cares for the military element of the visit to stay hidden away, laying stress on cooperation in peaceful spheres.