A top Syrian official says Israeli allegations that Damascus is supplying Hezbollah with Scud missiles are aimed at undermining the country's improving relations with the United States.

Presidential adviser Buthaina Shaaban says "the missiles are too big to be moved undetected in a tiny country like Lebanon where Israeli reconnaissance planes fly overhead on daily basis."

In an article published in the daily Tishrin Monday, she described the allegations as "ridiculous."

Syria has denied the charges, as has Lebanon's Western-backed prime minister.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has said the Obama administration is still committed to improving ties with Syria despite its deeply troubling moves to aid Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrilla group.

Earlier this month, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Israel was preparing a military strike against Syria by accusing Damascus of supplying Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon with long-range Scud missiles.

"Israel aims from this to raise tension further in the region and to create an atmosphere for probable Israeli aggression," the statement said, adding that "the Syrian Arab Republic denies these fabrications."

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