Israel never proved use of Russian missiles by Hizbollah - Ivanov

MAGADAN, August 25 (RIA Novosti) - Israel never provided Russia with evidence that Hizbollah militants used Russian-made anti-tank missiles in Lebanon, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Friday.

"Nobody has ever shown us evidence that Hizbollah has Kornet anti-tank systems," Ivanov, who is also deputy prime minister, said as he began his trip to Russia's Far East and the United States Thursday.

Kornet is a third generation missile system designed to destroy tanks, including those fitted with explosive reactive amour, fortifications, entrenched troops, as well as small-scale targets.

Ivanov said that in recent years there have been rumors about the sale of Russian-made weaponry to Middle East countries and the possibility that some of these weapons ended up in the hands of terrorists.

"All these accusations simply reflect internal political problems in Israel," he said, adding that they were "complete rubbish."

Ivanov said Russia should not assume responsibility for weapons sold to foreign countries during the Soviet era, and critics should be more careful in determining the origin of weapons.