Tuesday, September 3, 2013

NATO ‘Probing’ Mediterranean Ballistic Launch Reports

NATO ‘Probing’ Mediterranean Ballistic Launch Reports
14:01 03/09/2013
Tags: Mediterranean Sea, Pentagon, NATO, Defense Ministry, Sergei Shoigu, Vladimir Putin, Damascus, Britain, Syria, France, Brussels
BRUSSELS, September 3 (RIA Novosti) – NATO has no information about the launch of "ballistic targets" in the Mediterranean and is looking into those reports, an official from the alliance told RIA Novosti Tuesday.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said earlier on Tuesday its early warning system had detected the launch of two "ballistic targets" in the Mediterranean.
The Pentagon, the UK and French Defense Ministries and the Israel Army command have all told RIA Novosti they have no information about such launches.
“The Defense Ministry cannot confirm these media reports. This is all I can say,” a French Defense Ministry spokesman said.
The launch was detected at 10:16 Moscow time (06:16 GMT) by a radar in the southern Russian city of Armavir, a Defense Ministry spokesman said. The targets’ trajectories ran from the central to the eastern Mediterranean, the spokesman said.
Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported the launch to President Vladimir Putin, the spokesman told Russian journalists.
The Defense Ministry's press service was not immediately available for further comment.
The Russian Embassy in the Syrian capital Damascus said it did not have any information about the launch.

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