Missiles near Syria risk serious conflict: Russia

Russia yesterday warned any deployment of Patriot missiles by Turkey on its border with Syria may create a temptation to use the weapons and spark a "very serious armed conflict" involving Nato.
"I understand that no one has any intention to see Nato get sucked into the Syrian crisis," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters, reiterating concerns aired by the foreign ministry on Thursday.
But "the more arms are being accumulated, the greater the risk that they will be used," he added.
"Any accumulation of weapons creates a risk that any provocation may trigger a serious armed conflict. We would like to avoid it at all costs," Lavrov noted.
Lavrov spoke after Turkey turned to Nato to request the deployment of surface-to-air Patriot missiles to protect its troubled border with Syria.
Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said earlier this week that Nato would consider the request for Patriots "without delay."
Meanwhile, two main Kurdish groups have agreed to join forces in a standoff with hundreds of Islamist rebels in northeastern Syria, a Syrian Kurdish representative and an activist said yesterday.
The agreement sets the stage for an expanded conflict in the area between Islamist rebels opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Syrian Kurdish forces.
And Iran's influential parliament speaker Ali Larijani met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus yesterday at the start of a regional tour to find a solution to the conflict in his country's key ally.