* NATO commander says Syria situation "chaotic, dangerous"
* NATO concerned because Scuds can carry chemical warheads
BRUSSELS, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Several Scud missiles fired at
rebels by Syria have landed "fairly close" to the Turkish
border, NATO's top military commander said on Friday in a blog
explaining why Patriot anti-missile batteries are being deployed
to Turkey.
The comments by U.S. Admiral James Stavridis, NATO's Supreme
Allied Commander Europe, were the first to confirm that Scuds
have come down near the border of Turkey, a NATO member state.
Stavridis also described the situation in Syria as "chaotic
and dangerous".
U.S. and NATO officials said on Wednesday that Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad's forces had fired Scud-style
ballistic missiles at rebels in recent days in what U.S.
officials described as an escalation of the 20-month civil war.
"Over the past few days, a handful of Scud missiles were
launched inside Syria, directed by the regime against opposition
targets. Several landed fairly close to the Turkish border,
which is very worrisome," Stavridis wrote. ()
Syria on Thursday denied it had used Scud missiles in its
fight against what it calls "terrorist groups".
Stavridis voiced particular concern about Scuds because they
can be fitted with chemical warheads. Syria is known to possess
chemical weapons.
"Given a number of recent cross-border incidents with
artillery and mortars landing in Turkey and killing Turkish
civilians, we are concerned with possible Scud missile activity
inside Syria. Scuds ... are particularly worrisome because they
can carry chemical payloads," he said.
Turkey has scrambled jets along its frontier with Syria and
responded in kind when shells from Syria landed inside its
borders. If any Scuds strayed over the border into Turkish
territory, it could carry the risk of spreading the conflict.
Ankara twice this year has invoked Article 4 of the NATO
charter which provides for consultations when a member state
feels its security is threatened.
CHAOTIC SITUATION
NATO agreed last week to Turkey's request to send Patriots
to reinforce its air defences against possible missile attack
from Syria. The United States, Germany and the Netherlands are
to send six Patriot batteries in all.
"Syria is clearly a chaotic and dangerous situation; but we
have an absolute obligation to defend the borders of the
alliance from any threat emanating from that troubled state,"
Stavridis wrote.
The alliance said sending Patriots was purely defensive and
that it has no intention of intervening in Syria, but Russia
said it was a step towards NATO involvement in the war.
Stavridis said the Patriots would help defend "the
population centres in southern Turkey" and he said he would
retain "operational command responsibility" for the Patriots.
"I anticipate we'll begin moving the systems toward Turkey
very soon, and hope to have systems in place in the coming weeks
after final national decisions are made and assets are allocated
to NATO Command," he said.
The Netherlands, which is sending two Patriot batteries and
up to 360 personnel to operate them, expects its missiles to be
operational by the end of January, Dutch Prime Minister Mark
Rutte said on Thursday.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta signed an order on
Friday to send two Patriot missile batteries to Turkey with 400
American personnel. {ID:nL5E8NE3PK]
Also on Friday, Germany's lower house of parliament approved
the sending of two Patriot batteries and 400 soldiers to Turkey
as part of the NATO plan.