Diplomatic observers believe that Moscow is prepared to install SAM-2 and SAM-3 anti-aircraft missiles in Syria to threaten Israel if it refuses to return the occupied Golan Heights according to reports from Beirut today. The reports said Syria’s new strongman, Gen. Hafez Assad, plans to send military personnel to Egypt to train in the operation of Soviet SAM missiles deployed there. The reports said Gen. Assad has received approval from President Anwar Sadat of Egypt. Syria has recently indicated that it wants to join the proposed federation between Egypt, Libya and the Sudan. In his first public address since he seized power last month, Gen. Assad told a cheering crowd of thousands in Damascus yesterday that his government’s main objective is the liberation of Arab territory occupied by Israel. He promised to strengthen Syria’s armed forces and to establish close military cooperation with Egypt under the federation plan. The effect of missile installations in Syria, military experts note, will be to place Israel in a pincer between that line of missiles and those already installed on the Egyptian side of the Suez Canal.
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