Russian military experts "proved concretely that this equipment cannot be used in man-portable mode and Israeli military personnel acknowledged this," the agency quoted Ivanov as saying after a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, Anatoly Hrytsenko.

His comments also came on the eve of a historic visit to Israel by President Vladimir Putin.

The sale by Russia to Syria of the Strelets anti-air defense system was announced in February and confirmed by Putin the following month, despite expressions of concern from Israel and the United States who said they were worried the arms could end up in the wrong hands.

"The balance of forces in the region will not be changed. From our point of view, Israel has considerable domination over Syria in terms of military potential," the report quoted Ivanov as saying. He added that the deal had received "more media attention than it warranted."

Ivanov reiterated that the Strelets system was only short-range and could not be adapted for "man-portable," shoulder-launched use.

Man-portable missiles are easier to steal and use, making them a particular source of worry for government security agencies around the world trying to prevent such material from falling into the hands of unauthorized organizations.

In December 2002, an attempt was made to shoot down an Israeli charter jet full of holidaymakers as it took off from an airport in the Kenyan port of Mombasa using just such a man-portable, surface-to-air anti-aircraft missile.

Ivanov criticized media reports that erroneously described the Stelets system as "man-portable."

"That's like talking about flying submarines," he said.

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.