Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah refused to confirm or deny Israeli allegations his group had obtained long-range Scud missiles from Syria and said he did not think Israel was seeking a pretext for war.

Nasrallah, in an interview with Kuwait's Al-Rai television broadcast on Thursday, said the claims were an attempt to "intimidate" the armed Lebanese political group and Syria.

"I cannot say that it (war) is close. Myself and brothers in Hezbollah see that all this intimidation does not hide behind it a war. On the contrary, if there was silence and quietness, then everyone must be be vigilant," he said.

"But when you see all this American and Israeli noise, this means they want to use this noise to achieve political, psychological and certain security advantages without resorting to the step of war."    

Israel and Hezbollah fought a month-long war in 2006 during which the guerrilla group fired thousands of mostly short-range Katyusha missiles into the Jewish state.

Israel is worried the guerrillas have replenished their arsenal to attack it on Iran's behalf should Tehran's nuclear sites come under attack.   

"Today it's Scuds, yesterday other kinds of rockets ... the aim is one, and that is to intimidate Lebanon, to intimidate Syria and to put pressure on Lebanon, Syria, the resistance movement and the Lebanese and Syrian people," Nasrallah said.   

"Regardless of whether Syria gave Hezbollah this type of rockets ... of course Syria denied, and Hezbollah as usual does not comment," said the Hezbollah leader.

US and Israeli defence ministers have accused Syria of arming Hezbollah with increasingly powerful missiles. Israel has said it does not intend to provoke a conflict over the buildup.

US intelligence and defence officials have cast doubt on Israeli allegations that Scuds have reached Lebanon. Reports of the delivery of the long-range Scud missiles first appeared on April 10 in Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai.

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman denied in a separate television interview there were any Scuds in Lebanon. "There is no proof about what they (US and Israelis) are talking about now. And if they had actual evidence, they would have presented it to the media and on television screens," he said in an interview on Lebanon's LBC television on Thursday.  - Reuters