"What worries me is that such weapons could be transferred to terrorist groups," Sharon told public radio.

Sharon reiterated that he regarded the sale of the air defence missile system as a "threat to the security of Israel" but said that Israel could not stop Moscow trying to seal a deal with a third party.

The Russian defense ministry has said the system that Moscow plans to sell to Syria would be mounted on vehicles and could not be stripped down for "man-portable" shoulder-launch use.

Both Israel and the United States have expressed disquiet about a possible sale of Russian-made man-portable missiles to Syria, fearing that they could end up in the hands of Lebanon's Damascus-backed Hezbollah Shiite militia.

The row over the missile system threatens to overshadow a visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Israel next week.

In an interview prior to his visit, Putin tried to assuage Israeli fears about the deal.

"Israel has nothing to fear from the deal, these are not offensive missiles, only defensive," Putin told Israeli public television.

"Of course it will make it difficult to fly over Assad's residence and make flights at low altitudes difficult."

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was furious in August 2003 when Israeli warplanes flew over his presidential palace in Damascus.

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