War (of Words) with Syria
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Saturday, May 31, 2003
[Another story on the US pay-off of Lebanon. It's a bit convoluted. This time its about the nexus of Waterworks of Mass Desertification and guerilla warfare/terrorism. If Lebanon proceeds with plans to take water from the Wazzani River, a tributary of the Hatzbani River, which flows in to the Jordon River, then Israel may attack.
Keep in mind that Israeli military strikes against Arab water facilities occured during the period of escalation proceeding Israel's pre-emptive war in 1967, and that the Golan Heights, captured during that pre-emptive war, and since annexed by Israel, provide much of Israel's water supply.
To defuse the current cold water war, the US will pay to build a pumping station on the Litani River. But to do so means that Hizbullah, who have militia forces in southern Lebanon, must be disarmed.]
Lebanon Offered U.S. Aid to Disarm Hezbollah, Lawmaker Says
Bloomberg -- May 29
May 29 (Bloomberg) -- A U.S. lawmaker, citing Bush administration support, will propose to Lebanon that it disarm the Hezbollah militia and cancel a water project opposed by Israel in return for $500 million in American aid.
The aid, intended to help defuse tension in the region, would be used to build a water-distribution facility in southern Lebanon that would avoid the need to tap a river that flows into Israel, Representative Darrell Issa of California said.
A background story on the Wazzani ...
AP via ENN -- September 17, 2002
Hezbollah flay ban plan by Australia
Reuters via Gulf News -- May 30
Lebanon's Hezbollah fighters yesterday said that Australia's push to ban the group as a "terrorist" organisation showed it had fallen in line with a smear campaign orchestrated by Washington and Israel.
U.S. Offers To Pay For Peace
Arutz Sheva -- May 30
Syria, which still appears on the American list of terrorism-supporting countries, and Lebanon are liable to receive a half-billion dollars each from the United States. Two Congressmen - Darrell Issa (R-Ca.) and Robert Wexler (D-Fl.) - have been sent by the White House to visit the Middle East next week and offer Damascus the money in exchange for "participating" in the Middle East process. Syria will be asked to end its support for terrorist organizations such as Hizbullah and Islamic Jihad, and end the occupation of Lebanon by Syrian troops.
Lebanon, for its part - from where Rep. Issa's grandparents hail - will be asked to disarm Hizbullah, station its forces along the border with Israel instead of Hizbullah, and "express willingness" to reach a water-rights agreement with Israel.
US reportedly offering deal to neutralize Hizbullah
‘$500m on table’ if Beirut complies
The Daily Star -- May 30
Nicholas Blanford
Special to The Daily Star
The United States is reportedly making a fresh attempt to strike a behind-the-scenes
deal to neutralize Hizbullah, offering the government half a billion dollars if the resistance is dismantled and Syria pulls its troops out of Lebanon.
The offer is reportedly being conveyed by Darryl Issa, a Republican congressman for California, and Democrat Robert Wexler during a visit to Beirut Friday, the daily As-Safir said Thursday. The two congressmen will also travel to Damascus to discuss the offer with Syrian officials, the paper said.
As-Safir said the $500 million would be delivered in phases as Lebanon fulfilled a number of demands. An initial $100 million would be disbursed if Lebanon agreed to settle its water disputes with Israel, namely the allocation of water from the Hasbani River.
A further $250 million would be handed over for development projects in the border district if Hizbullah’s military wing is dismantled and the army deployed along the UN-delineated Blue Line. The remaining $150 million would be allocated to water and agricultural projects in the South.
There was no immediate official comment on the offer, but few believe that Lebanon and Syria will accept the alleged deal.
If the report is true, it would not be the first time that the US attempted to cut a deal to curb Hizbullah’s military activities. After Sept. 11, 2001, Issa reportedly delivered a message to Hizbullah’s leadership on behalf of the US administration, asking the party to withdraw from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, publicly distinguish between Islam and terrorism and share information it has on groups the US considers terrorist organizations. In return, the US administration would forgive Hizbullah’s alleged past involvement in anti-Western attacks.
The deal was rejected by Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who described it as a “political hand grenade hurled to finish us off.”
Nasrallah also said that the US attempted to buy off Hizbullah in early 2000, offering millions of dollars, a guaranteed political role in Lebanon and international recognition if it abandoned the struggle against Israel after the Israeli Army withdrew from the South.
Meanwhile, the daily Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported Thursday that Iranian Revolutionary Guards have been removing weapons from the border district around Marjayoun. The newspaper also said that Iran has stopped training Hizbullah pilots, apparently hang-glider pilots trained to carry out suicide operations inside Israel.
Timur Goksel, UNIFIL’s spokesman and senior adviser, said that Indian peacekeeping troops deployed in the Marjayoun area had seen no unusual movement.
He also said no hang-gliders had been seen in south Lebanon.
“The only things flying around here bigger than a bird are Israeli jets,” Goksel said.
The only known incident of a hang-glider being used in an attack on Israel happened in November 1987.
The Third Phase of the War on Terror
BBC World News -- May 30
During a BBC report on Hizbullah and Lebanon Dr. Loren B. Thompson of the Lexington Institute had this to say ...
From the viewpoint of the United States, a country that cannont prevent its territory from being used as a base for attacks against other countries is by definition a failed state. It lacks sovereingty, and therefore external powers have the legitimacy of acting in order to prevent them becoming a threat.
Blair in Kuwait Before Iraq Trip; Warns Iran, Syria
Reuters -- May 28
By Mike Peacock
KUWAIT CITY - British Prime Minister Tony Blair arrived in Kuwait on Wednesday before he was due to make the first trip to neighboring Iraq by a Western leader since the war that toppled Saddam Hussein.
He also delivered a warning to neighbors Iran and Syria not to meddle in Iraq's future or support militants who could upset hopes of progress in Israeli-Palestinian peace moves
"It's particularly important that Iran and Syria cease to support any terrorist groups," he said.
Britain has taken a more measured approach than Washington to Damascus and Syria, favoring dialogue with both.
On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld stepped up charges that Iran was harboring wanted leaders of the Islamic militant network al Qaeda. Insiders say he is pressing for a U.S. policy shift to support "regime change" in Tehran.
The UK premier stopped well short of that.
[One of the recurring themes of today's sampling of articles is the tremendous variation in tone from different media outlets carrying the same basic stories.
Earlier today a couple of articles about the third anniversary of the Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon were posted to this page. The Daily Star article focuses on Hizbullah's defiant stand against Israel, which invaded as deep as Beirut, and occupied parts of Lebanon for 22 years. The Ha'aretz article mentions a desire by the Sharon government to strike at Hizbullah during the recent US invasion of Iraq -- a desire that was thwarted by the US govenment. (Of course, we know from an earlier UPI article that Sharon government officials were helping Rumsfeld lobby within the Bush cabinet for "hot pursuit" forays by US forces into Syria.)
Here's another view, from the US Christian right, with an interesting choice of headline.]
Lebanon Abandoned: Broken Promises Three Years Later
CBN -- May 27
By Chris Mitchell
Middle East Bureau Chief
Several hundred Israeli soldiers died over the years protecting Israel's northern border. The pullout created major changes in both people and places.
CBN.com – on the ISRAEL-LEBANON BORDER — Three years ago this month, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak pulled Israeli troops out of the south Lebanon security zone. While Barak made good on a campaign promise, the pullout had a devastating impact on thousands of south Lebanese, many of them Christians.
[Detailed article about the neocons' war of words with Iraq. Reporter Jim Lobe names names.]
Neo-cons move quickly on Iran
Asia Times -- May 28
By Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON - Reports that top officials in the administration of President George W Bush will meet this week to discuss US policy toward Iran, including possible efforts to overthrow its government, mark a major advance in what has been an 18-month campaign by neo-conservatives in and out of the administration.
Overshadowed until last month by their much louder drum-beating for war against Iraq, the neo-cons' efforts to now focus US attention on "regime change" in Iran have become much more intense since early May, and have already borne substantial fruit.
A high-level, albeit unofficial, dialogue between both countries over Iraq, Afghanistan and other issues of mutual interest was abruptly broken off by Washington 10 days ago amid charges by senior Pentagon officials that al-Qaeda agents based in Iran had been involved in terrorist attacks against US and foreign targets in Saudi Arabia on May 12. Tehran strongly denied the charge.
Now, according to reports in the Washington Post and the New York Times, the administration is considering permanently cutting off the dialogue - which included its senior envoy for both Iraq and Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad - and adopting a far more confrontational stance vis-a-vis Tehran that could include covert efforts to destabilize the government.
Pentagon hawks, particularly Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and Undersecretary for Policy Douglas Feith, who have long been closely associated with neo-conservatives outside the administration centered at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), reportedly favor using the heavily armed, Iraq-based Iranian rebel group, the Mujahideen-e Khalq Organization, which surrendered to US forces in April, as the core of a possible opposition military force.
They are also pursuing links with the Iranian exile community centered in southern California, which has rallied increasingly around Reza Pahlavi, the son of the former Shah of Iran who was overthrown by the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
According to a recent story in the US Jewish newspaper The Forward, Pahlavi has cultivated senior officials in Israel's Likud government with which the neo-conservatives in Washington - both in the administration and outside it - are closely allied.
Besides charges - considered questionable by the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) - that Iran may be sheltering al-Qaeda operatives allegedly involved in the May 12 attacks in Riyadh - the administration has voiced several major concerns about the country's recent behavior.
Senior officials have accused Tehran of accelerating a major nuclear program that they say is designed to produce weapons and of infiltrating "agents" into Iraq in order to create problems for the US-dominated occupation there. They have also continued to call Iran a major supporter of international terrorism, primarily due to its backing for Hezbollah in Lebanon.
It was Tehran's backing for Hezbollah that earned it a prominent place on the target list produced by the Project for the New American Century in an open letter to Bush on September 20, 2001, just nine days after al-Qaeda's attack on New York and the Pentagon.
The letter's 41 mainly neo-conservative signers urged Bush to retaliate directly against Iran if it failed to cut off Hezbollah. The same letter anticipated virtually every other step so far taken by the administration in its "war on terror", including invading Afghanistan, severing ties to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq.
In October, 2001, influential figures at the AEI and like-minded think tanks launched a new line of attack on Iran by publishing articles in sympathetic media, most notably on the editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal, arguing that the Iranian people were so disillusioned by the ruling mullahs in Tehran, including the "reformists" around President Mohamed Khatami, that they were ready to rise up against the government in a pro-US revolution.
"Iran is ready to blow sky-high," wrote AEI scholar Michael Ledeen back in November 2001. "The Iranian people need only a bright spark of courage from the United States to ignite the flames of democratic revolution."
When, much to the State Department's dismay, Bush named Iran as part of the "axis of evil" in late January, 2002, both Israel and the neo-conservatives pressed their advantage, arguing repeatedly that dialogue even with Khatami was a waste of time and that Washington should cast its lot instead with "the people" against the regime.
Reuel Marc Gerecht, a former CIA officer and Ledeen's AEI colleague, argued last August in the neo-conservative Weekly Standard that the mere presence of US troops in Iraq would bring about revolution next door.
"Popular discontent in Iran tends to heat up when US soldiers get close to the Islamic Republic," he wrote. "An American invasion could possibly provoke riots in Iran - simultaneous uprisings in major cities that would simply be beyond the scope of regime-loyal specialized riot-control units."
But the intensity and frequency of the campaign against Tehran picked up dramatically earlier this month. On May 5, Standard Editor William Kristol, whose office is six floors below the AEI, wrote that the United States was "already in a death struggle with Iran over the future of Iraq" and that "the next great battle - not, we hope, a military battle - will be for Iran".
The very next day, the AEI hosted an all-day conference entitled "The Future of Iran: Mullahcracy, Democracy and the War on Terror", whose speakers included Ledeen, Sobhani, Gerecht, Morris Amitay of the neo-conservative Jewish Institute for National Security Studies and Uri Lubrani from the Israeli Defense Ministry.
The convenor, Hudson Institute Middle East specialist Meyrav Wurmser (whose husband David worked as her AEI counterpart until joining the administration), set the tone: "Our fight against Iraq was only one battle in a long war," she said. "It would be ill-conceived to think that we can deal with Iraq alone ... We must move on, and faster."
"It was a grave error to send [Khalilzad] to secret meetings with representatives of the Iranian government in recent weeks," Israeli-born Wurmser said, complaining that, "rather than coming as victors who should be feared and respected rather than loved, we are still engaged in old diplomacy, in the kind of politics that led to the attacks of September 11."
Just days later, the Khalilzad channel was abruptly closed, and a Christian Right ally of the neo-conservatives, Senator Sam Brownback, introduced the "Iran Democracy Act" that sets as US policy the goal of "an internationally monitored referendum to allow the Iranian people to peacefully change their system of government".
"Now is not the time to coddle this terrorist regime," he said. "Now is the time to stand firm and support the people of Iran - who are the only ones that can win this important battle."
Russia presses Iran over nuclear fuel
Financial Times -- May 27
By Guy Dinmore in Washington
Russia has responded to US pressure by telling Iran it will not supply nuclear fuel for the reactor it is constructing unless the Islamic republic agrees to intrusive inspections of all its nuclear facilities, say US and European officials.
Moscow's move was seen in Washington as a big step in the Bush administration's efforts to hinder Iran's development of nuclear weapons. Russia had resisted US pressure to stop construction of the Bushehr plant.
The policy change was also seen in the context of President Vladimir Putin's efforts to ensure a harmonious summit with George W. Bush in St Petersburg on Sunday, following their differences over the Iraq war.
Moscow Says Will Not Back out of Iran Nuke Plans
Riyadh Daily -- May 28
Moscow will not drop plans to build Iran’s first nuclear plant despite growing US pressure over fears Tehran is seeking to develop nuclear arms, Russia’s atomic energy minister was quoted on Tuesday as saying. Russia’s technology sales to Iran and the construction of the Bushehr power station have been a major irritant in relations with Washington, adding to unease over Moscow’s refusal to back US military action in Iraq. "Russia does not see any reason now to review its stance and its role regarding construction of the first nuclear reactor," Prime Tass news agency quoted Alexander Rumyantsev as saying after talks with visiting Iranian nuclear officials on Monday.
[To hedge bets on which is the next country to be liberated, this page follows news about Iran from time to time.]
U.S. dismisses Iran's claim that it arrested suspected al-Qaida members
Knight Ridder Newspapers -- May 27
By Jonathan S. Landay
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration on Tuesday dismissed Iran's claim that it had arrested suspected al-Qaida members but said the United States would use diplomacy to pressure the Islamic regime to stop harboring terrorists.
"It's a diplomatic course that the president is pursuing and it's a course that trusts the Iranian people, at its core, that the future of Iran will be determined by the people of Iran," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.
Fleischer reiterated U.S. charges that Iran is developing nuclear weapons, rejecting Tehran's assertions that its nuclear program is for civilian energy production.
"They don't need nuclear energy for their electric grid," he said. "They have sufficient energy from . . . gas and from oil."
[One shouldn't debate a topic as important as national security.]
Hezbollah threats alarmist: Lebanese community
Australian Broadcast Company, The World Today -- May 27
Reporter: Tanya Nolan
HAMISH ROBERTSON: Claims made by the Federal Government that the Lebanese-based Hezbollah group poses a terrorist threat to Australia have been met with confusion and alarm amongst some members of the Arab-Australian community.
Federal Attorney-General, Daryl Williams, is seeking to ban the terrorist-wing of the Hezbollah organisation on the basis of what he says is ASIO intelligence suggesting the group has a capacity to carry out an attacks here in Australia.
Members of the Lebanese community say Hezbollah sympathisers are resident here in Australia and spokespeople for Australia's Jewish community say Hezbollah does pose a serious threat, as demonstrated by its past attacks around the world.
But Lebanese community leaders also say that they're committed to the war on terrorism, and are concerned that the Government's claims are alarmist and may generate a backlash.
Tanya Nolan reports.
TANYA NOLAN: Attorney-General Daryl Williams has bipartisan political support for the threat he perceives to come from the Lebanese-based and Iranian and Syrian sponsored group Hezbollah, but asked on our sister program, AM, today what that specific threat is, the Attorney-General wouldn't elaborate
DARYL WILLIAMS: The question you're asking is one that successive governments would have declined to answer on the basis that you're asking questions relating to national security
[Ashcroft's Australian counterpart: Although your perfectly reasonable compromise meets our immediate goal to ban Hezbollah, you oppose a change in law that will increase the power of the Attorney-General. Why do you hate Australia?]
We're in reach of Mid-East terrorists: A-G
news.com.au -- May 28
By John Kerin and Cameron Stewart
The militant Lebanese-based terror group Hezbollah, which maintains an open threat to kill Australians in the Middle East over the Iraq war, has the global reach to mount an attack in Australia, the Federal Government has warned.
Pumping up pressure on the Federal Opposition and the Labor states to support a ban on the terrorist wing of Hezbollah in Australia, Attorney-General Daryl Williams said yesterday the group was one of the few with the resources to harm Australians at home.
But Mr Williams did not produce evidence of active terrorist cells in Australia.
It is understood that although there are people with links to the organisation in Australia, the Government believes there are no active terrorist cells here.
A high-level US government report states that Hezbollah is active in Lebanon and other parts of the Middle East and has terrorist cells in Europe, North and South America and Asia, but does not mention Australia.
Hezbollah may be trafficking drugs in South America
San Jose Mercury News -- May 23
By TIM JOHNSON
WASHINGTON - A recent arrest in Paraguay is raising concern on Capitol Hill about links between the radical Hezbollah group and drug trafficking in South America.
Police in Asuncion arrested a relative of Assad Ahmad Barakat, the chief of Hezbollah in South America, with about five pounds of cocaine hidden in an electric piano that he allegedly intended to smuggle into Syria.
Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, brought up the arrest in a hearing this week that examined links between drug trafficking and international terrorism. The arrest of Barakat's relative, Hatch said, demonstrated "the narco-terrorist financing operations needed to support Barakat and Hezbollah."
Hezbollah condemns bombings in Riyadh, Casablanca: Newspaper
Zee News (India) -- May 25
Cairo -- The leader of Lebanon's Shiite Muslim fundamentalist movement, Hezbollah, condemned this month's suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia and Morocco for having targetted "innocent people," an Egyptian newspaper reported today.
"In principle, we do not approve of this kind of operation," Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said in an interview with the government daily al-Ahram.
Israel's propagandists target Hizbullah
Yellow Times -- May 26
By Sharif Hikmat Nashashibi
Much was made in the British media on May 23 of the alleged Israeli capture of a Hizbullah boat, supposedly laden with weapons, weapons-making material and instructions, and supposedly destined for the occupied Palestinian territories. However, an analysis of the reports points to sloppy, highly selective journalism in the face of Israeli propaganda.
Hizbullah hospital wins praise along border
Facility embodies ‘softer’ side of jihad
The Daily Star -- May 27
Nicholas Blanford
In marked contrast to the general lack of development in the border district since Israel’s troop withdrawal three years ago this week, the Hizbullah-run Saleh Ghandour Hospital in Bint Jbeil is proving a rare success story.
With international attention focused on Hizbullah’s military presence in the border area, the hospital represents the often overlooked aspect of the party as it quietly dispenses low-cost healthcare to local residents, regardless of their faith.
Bassem Sidawi, a Christian doctor from Ain Ibl, worked at the hospital during the years of occupation, treating locals as well as the occasional Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army militiamen who had been wounded by Hizbullah’s resistance fighters. Today, Sidawi still treats patients at the hospital and will not hear a word against the party.
“It makes me very angry when I see Hizbullah being described as a terrorist organization, “Sidawi said. “It’s a manipulation of what is happening here. Hizbullah is not a terrorist group.”
Australia plans to ban Hizbullah
Al Bawaba -- May 27
The Australian government said Tuesday that it is planning to ban the Lebanon-based Hizbullah group, “due to intelligence suggesting members of the group have been involved in various terror activities.”
Justice Minister Daryl Williams said that while the US and Britain had banned Hizbullah, Australia hadn’t, “The Australian laws regarding terror groups permit us to ban only groups that are enlisted on the list of terror organizations published by the UN Security Council (UNSC)”, he explained.
According to Australian anti-terror laws, a group must be declared a terrorist organization by the United Nations Security Council before it can be proscribed in Australia.
Williams added that Australia should prepare itself to cope with expected terror threats. “The US is conducting an all-out war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban, but it seems it is not tackling other organizations which have a similar political doctrine to that of Al Qaeda. Hizbullah is a dangerous terror group and we ought to fight it,” Williams told the Australian parliament.
HAMAS RUNS INSURGENCY OPERATIONS FROM SYRIA
MENL -- May 25
WASHINGTON -- Hamas has employed its offices in Syria for the financing and planning of insurgency operations, a new report says.
The report by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy said Hamas leaders use their Damascus headquarters for the planning of major operations against Israel. The report, authored by Matthew Levitt, said Hamas leaders in Damascus have acknowledged their central role in insurgency operations.
"From their Syrian safe haven, Hamas leaders Khaled Mashaal, Mussa Abu Marzouk, Imad Al Alami, and others actively launch terrorist operations." the report said. "Hamas leaders have acknowledged the central role that their group's Damascus-based 'political' leaders play in operational decision-making."
The report cited a statement from the late Hamas military commander Salah Shehada in the Gaza Strip. Shehada, who was assassinated last year in an Israeli air attack in Gaza City, had asserted that "the political apparatus is sovereign over the military apparatus, and a decision of the political [echelon] takes precedence over the decision of the military [echelon], without intervening in military operations."
U.S. sees signs Syria curtailing 'terror support'
Reuters via Ha'aretz -- May 23
WASHINGTON - The United States sees some signs that Syria is curtailing its support for "terrorism" but not the kind of dramatic moves Washington has been looking for, a senior State Department official said on Friday.
Syria and Iran remain among the seven nations that the United States lists as state sponsors of terrorism, in part because of U.S. allegations that both nations support anti-Israel groups like Hezbollah.
"We are not going to look fondly toward nations such as Iran or Syria which serve as origination and transshipment points for weapons (that are going to) Hezbollah and we have made that clear to both of them," the U.S. official, who asked not to be identified, told reporters as U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell flew home from a two-day visit to Paris.
Lebanon marks Israeli withdrawal
Ha'aretz -- May 25
By Daniel Sobelman
Lebanon celebrated Liberation and Resistance Day yesterday, a national holiday first declared after Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon three years ago.
Hezbollah held its main rally in the city of Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley. Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah stressed in his speech that Lebanon must not give up the arms of Hezbollah, and explained that Israel and the U.S. have aggressive intentions and that Israel is refusing to recognize Lebanon's rights. "Yesterday, when we wanted to drink the water of the Wazzani River and Sharon threatened war, was it because of our weapons? ... Whenever any source of power is conceded, this is suicide," Nasrallah said.
He was referring to an article in the Hebrew edition of Haaretz on Friday, according to which Israel meant to target his organization during the war in Iraq, but was held back by the U.S. administration.
Nasrallah issues call to arms to face Jewish state
‘When the country faces aggression, we must be fully ready’
The Daily Star -- May 27
by Morshed Ali
Hizbullah secretary-general Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah called Sunday on the resistance, the army and national forces to arm themselves in the face of a possible attack by the Jewish state.
Addressing thousands at Ras al-Ain in Baalbek on the third anniversary of Israel’s withdrawal from South Lebanon, he said, “when the country faces aggression, we must be fully ready to resist.
FM Shalom to Ministers of Syria and Lebanon: I Come In Peace
Maariv via Virtual Jerusalem News -- May 27
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom received an unusual amount of attention in the conference of foreign ministers that took place in Crete. For the first time since the Intifada began the foreign ministers of Morocco and Tunisia agreed with him. For the first time the foreign ministers of Syria and Lebanon chose to listen to the Israeli Foreign Minister’s speech rather than taking their usual step of leaving the auditorium in protest.
“I’ve come here today with a message of peace from Jerusalem. Yesterday the Israeli government approved the roadmap and President Bush’s vision for peace. This step brings hopes of peace to peoples of the region,” said Shalom. “The Palestinian Prime Minister needs to now stop incitement and fight terror. Without this we will not be able to progress. The Palestinians need to understand that Israel will never agree to the return of Palestinians to its territory. I call upon my colleagues in the Arab world to take this opportunity to build a better future.”
The Syrian Foreign Minister gave a moderate speech saying that Syria is prepared to return to the negotiating table with Israel if certain conditions are met based on Un resolutions 242 and 338.
U.N. official: No changes of 'road map'
UPI -- May 27
By Dalal Saoud
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- A top U.N. official said Tuesday the "road map" for peace in the Middle East, designed to settle Israel-Palestinians relations and formally establish a Palestinian state, will not be changed or renegotiated.
Terje Roed Larsen, U.N. special coordinator for Middle East peace, spoke as President George W. Bush prepares to meet with a number of Arab leaders to discuss the plan's implementation.
Larsen said the peace plan was more broad than the 1993 Oslo agreements between Israel and the Palestinians because it takes into account Lebanon and Syria.
Jordan confirms Palestinian-Israeli summit in Aqaba; Syria excluded from US-Arab summit
Al Bawaba -- May 27
US President George W. Bush is planned to meet the Israeli and Palestinian premiers at one summit next week and hold another summit with several Arab heads of states.
The Israeli-Palestinian summit will take place in Jordan, Petra news agency confirmed Tuesday. The US-Arab summit will be held in Egypt. Both summits would take place after Bush attends the G-8 summit of the world's wealthiest countries in Evian, France from June 1-3.
Jordanian Information Minister, Mohammad Affash Adwan, was quoted as saying by Petra that Bush would meet a few Arab leaders, including Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah II, in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
The Jordanian minister conveyed the US leader was also due to attend a separate summit with Sharon and Abbas, in Jordan's resort of Aqaba. Adwan said consultations were under way to "specify the dates of both summits."
Syria expresses skepticism of Israel's acceptance of road map
Ha'aretz via Virtual Jerusalem News -- May 27
DAMASCUS, Syria - Syria's official media expressed skepticism Tuesday of Israel's acceptance of the road map plan for peace with the Palestinians, saying the Israeli aim is to gain time and smash the Palestinian opposition.
The Israeli Cabinet gave its conditional approval to the
plan on Sunday, adding demands that the Palestinians have
previously rejected. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had earlier declared his reluctant support for the plan, subject to assurances from Washington that Israel's reservations would be taken into account in the plan's
implementation.
SYRIA PREZ: WHAT QAEDA?
New York Post -- May 26
Syrian President Bashar Assad - who has promised Washington that he would help in the war on terror - said yesterday that al Qaeda does not exist and that Arab countries should not deal directly with Israel
"Is there really an entity called al Qaeda? Was it in Afghanistan? Does it exist now?" Assad asked in a wide-ranging interview published yesterday by the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Anba.
Syria Denies Existence of Al Qaeda
Talon News via GOPUSA -- May 26
By Jimmy Moore
KUWAIT CITY -- Syrian President Bashar Assad revealed in a newspaper interview on Sunday that he does not believe there is a terrorist group called al Qaeda, the organization widely believed to be the perpetrators of the hijackings on September 11, 2001 as well as the recent attacks in Saudi Arabia and Morocco.
"Is there really an entity called al Qaeda? It was in Afghanistan, but is it there anymore?" Assad asked.
Is there really an Al-Qaeda group?
The Strait Times -- May 27
KUWAIT CITY - Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an interview published on Sunday that he doubts the existence of Al-Qaeda, the terror group the US blames for the Sept 11, 2001 attacks and suspects of involvement in more recent strikes in Saudi Arabia and Morocco.
'Is there really an entity called Al-Qaeda? Was it in Afghanistan? Does it exist now?' Mr Assad told Al- Anba, a Kuwaiti daily.
Syria says ''roadmap'' should include Lebanese, Syrian tracks
Al Bawaba -- May 27
The US-backed Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, known as "road map" should be expanded and its guidelines should also be implemented in Syria and Lebanon, Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa said Tuesday.
"The roadmap... has to address the Lebanese and Syrian tracks," Shara was quoted as saying.
Al-Sharaa spoke on the sidelines of a meeting of the European Union and Mediterranean nations held in Crete, Greece. "The two tracks are united and they will be a part of the whole solution in the Middle East," he told reporters.
Israel's Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom speaking at the event Monday, said that Israel was prepared to ink a peace agreement with Syria if Damascus abandons its support for "terrorism."
In his Monday's address to the conference, Shara underlined that the explosive situation in the Middle East was a result of the absence of peace, the developments in Iraq and the continuation of the Israeli occupation of Arab territories, SANA reported.
He pointed out that the Israeli rejection of peace is hindering the establishment of a Euro- Mediterranean region that enjoy peace, stability and welfare.
Shara pointed out that for peace to be comprehensive it should include disarming the region of weapons of mass destruction.
Syria blames Israel for U.S. "differences" -paper
Reuters -- May 25
KUWAIT - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in remarks published on Sunday, blamed Israel for the tense ties between his country and the United States.
"The only problem between us and the United States is the issue of Israel. There is no bilateral problem," Assad told Kuwait's al-Anbaa daily.
via Pulp Non Fiction
Lebanese army to be redeployed along Lebanese-Israeli border
Jerusalem Post -- May 22
By THE JERUSALEM POST INTERNET STAFF
Lebanese leading newspaper Annahar reported today that 5000 Syrian soldiers will withdraw from Lebanon in the near future. Lebanese President Emile Lahoud announced the move during his meeting with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir in the presidential residency in Ba'abda suburb of Beirut.
An article about the meeting in Annahar stated that Lahoud also told the Patriarch that a new Lebanese Army Battalion will be soon sent to south Lebanon.
Israel radio reported that Hizballah issued a statement saying that the Lebanese Army will not be allowed to control the Lebanese-Israeli border and protect "settlers" in northern Israel.
Hezbollah fires on Israeli warplanes violating Lebanon airspace
AFP via Space War -- May 22
TYRE, Lebanon --
The radical Shiite Muslim Hezbollah movement said Thursday it had opened fire with anti-aircraft guns from southern Lebanon on Israeli warplanes overflying the area.
Syria, Hours Late, Backs Ending UN Iraq Sanctions
Reuters -- May 22
Syria, Hours Late, Backs Ending UN Iraq Sanctions
By Irwin Arieff
UNITED NATIONS - Syria, the U.N. Security Council's only Arab member, left its seat empty on Thursday as the council overwhelmingly adopted a U.S.-drafted resolution ending sanctions on Iraq but later said it would have voted "Yes."
UPI article linked also ...
Syria instructs pro-Iraq vote
UPI -- May 22
By Thanaa Imam
DAMASCUS -- Syria said Thursday it instructed its delegate at the U.N. Security Council to record a "yes" vote for the resolution to end sanctions in Iraq, several hours after the 15-member panel unanimously endorsed the coalition-sponsored motion without the Arab state.
[I caught this story at the Jerusalem Post web site, but don't have an account set up there.]
Israel claims to intercept Palestinian arms shipment at sea
Al Bawaba -- May 22
22-05-2003, 14:04
Israeli naval commandos intercepted on Wednesday a fishing boat, dubbed "Abu Hassan", loaded with weapons directed from Lebanon to Palestinian fighters. The boat was seized some 160 kilometers off the northern Israeli coast, Israeli military sources claimed Thursday, according to Israel Radio.
Five more articles linked ...
Israel 'seizes Hezbollah boat'
BBC -- May 22
The Israelis say they have seized a ship carrying weapons for Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
The raid took place on Wednesday in international waters off the Lebanese and Israeli coast, it is reported.
Nine people are said to have been arrested, including a member of Hezbollah, and the boat was towed back to the Israeli port of Haifa.
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said the arms were being transported from Lebanon to Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.
He added that the incident showed that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was behind terror operations.
"There is no doubt that those involved in the affair are very close to Arafat," he told Israeli television.
"This is not the first time."
Last year, Israel intercepted a 50-tonne shipment of Iranian weapons, which was destined for Palestinian militants, in the Red Sea.
Israeli sources say the current cache is much smaller than that.
Hezbollah officials in Beirut declined to comment.
Israeli navy intercepts suspicious vessel
AP via Helena Independent Record -- May 22
TEL AVIV, Israel - The Israeli military said Thursday it intercepted a suspicious vessel in the Mediterranean, west of its port city of Haifa, and media reports said a member of the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah was on board.
The military said "suspicious objects" were found on board, including "evidence of transfer of know-how and directives for carrying out terror attacks."
Israel's Channel One television reported the Israeli navy intercepted the boat Wednesday night on its way from Lebanon to the Gaza Strip. The boat was carrying a Hezbollah operative and the operation was planned by the Palestinian Authority, the television reported.
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said the incident was another example that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was behind terror operations.
"There is no doubt that those involved in the affair are very close to Arafat," he told Channel One. "This is not the first time."
Last year, Israel intercepted a ship, the Karine A, carrying 50 tons of weapons through the Red Sea, reportedly destined for the Palestinian Authority. The weapons included machine guns, rockets, mortars and explosives, all banned under interim peace deals with Israel.
Describing the new ship, Shalom said: "We are talking about another attempt to smuggle weapons from Lebanon to the coasts of Gaza."
He said he was uncertain whether new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas was involved.
Israel arrests Hezbollah man aboard boat headed for Gaza
Ha'aretz -- May 22
By Amos Harel and Arnon Regular, Haaretz Correspondents, and Agencies
Israel's navy seized a fishing boat Tuesday carrying a Hezbollah activist and weaponry and weapon-making equipment, believed to be heading for the Gaza Strip.
Hezbollah terror-supply boat seized
Israeli navy finds rocket fuses, bombmaking devices on board
WorldNetDaily -- May 22
Israeli naval commandos seized a fishing boat from Lebanon carrying Hezbollah operatives and loaded with rocket fuses, electronic bombmaking devices and instructions on putting together explosives belts for suicide bombings, according to Israeli newspapers.
'Bomb expert' seized on fishing boat off Israel
The Independent -- May 23
By Eric Silver in Jerusalem
The Israeli navy arrested an alleged Hizbollah bomb-making expert on a fishing boat sailing down the coast from Lebanon to Gaza, a military spokesman said yesterday.
[Syria seems to be cooling off, and Iran seems to be heating up.]
U.S. traces Saudi blasts to Iran
New York Times via International Herald Tribune -- May 22
Douglas Jehl with Eric Schmitt
WASHINGTON The United States has intercepted communications strongly suggesting that a small cell of Al Qaeda leaders in Iran directed the terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia last week, and Washington is sending a strong protest to the Tehran government, according to senior Bush administration officials
More articles linked ...
U.S. tells Iran not to support al-Qaida
By Anwar Iqbal
WASHINGTON, May 21 (UPI) -- The United States has urged Tehran to stop supporting al-Qaida operatives who it says are working out of Iran, officials said Wednesday.
U.S. Asks Iran to Crack Down on Qaeda Leaders Believed There -- NYT
By DOUGLAS JEHL
WASHINGTON, May 21 — The Bush administration reiterated its belief today that senior Al Qaeda leaders were in Iran and called on the Tehran government to act against them.
"Whether they are there with permission, not with permission, or what, it's the responsibility of the government to prevent those kind of people from coming to their country," the State Department spokesman, Richard Boucher, said.
Mutual terror accusations halt U.S.-Iran talks
By Barbara Slavin, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — A fledgling dialogue between Iran and the United States has broken down over mutual accusations of support for terrorism, U.S. and Iranian officials said Wednesday.
U.S. Accuses Iran of Harboring al-Qaida
Wednesday May 21, 2003 10:19 PM
By BARRY SCHWEID
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration on Wednesday accused Iran of harboring al-Qaida members and said Iranian leaders had a responsibility to prevent terrorists from entering and operating in the country.
``There's no question but that there have been and are today senior al-Qaida leaders in Iran, and they are busy'' plotting attacks, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said.
Lebanon targets Islamic radicals
Pressured by the US, Arab countries are arresting dozens of Islamic militants, some with Al Qaeda ties.
Christian Science Monitor -- May 20
By Nicholas Blanford
BEIRUT, LEBANON – Lebanon has arrested dozens of Islamic militants accused of mounting a series of bomb attacks against Western targets and plotting to assassinate the United States ambassador to Beirut.
[snip]
However, the timing of the crackdown has raised suspicions that the alleged plots have been "manufactured" in order to please Washington.
[I smell boiler plate in this AFP article. La męme merde, jour différent.]
Hezbollah fires on Israeli planes violating Lebanon airspace
AFP via Space Daily -- May 18
TYRE, Lebanon -- The radical Shiite Muslim Hezbollah movement said Sunday it had opened fire from its southern Lebanese stronghold on Israeli warplanes overflying the area.
Hezbollah shops plan
to organize in Iraq
Terrorists, Syria discuss infiltration to undermine American occupation
WorldNetDaily -- May 19
Hezbollah and Syrian officials are discussing a plan by the Iranian-backed terrorist group to organize cadres among the Shiite population inside U.S.-occupied Iraq, according to a report in the latest issue of Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin online intelligence newsletter.
During the two-day visit to Damascus of Iran's leader Mohammad Khatemi, President Bashar Assad promised Syria would resist a U.S. request to curb Hezbollah, according to G2 Bulletin's Israeli intelligence sources.
[There's more than one way to be a rejectionist.]
Israelis at Al Aqsa may cause tensions: Syria
Hi Pakistan -- May 19
DAMASCUS: Allowing Israelis to pray at the Al Aqsa Mosque in Al Quds would create new complications in the Middle East region, a Syrian newspaper said Sunday.
Israel's Police Minister, Tzahi Hanegbi, angered Muslims this week by saying he believed Jews would soon be able to visit the disputed holy site. Non-Muslims have been barred from the compound since a September 28, 2000 visit by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, then Israel's opposition leader. That visit, meant to demonstrate Israeli control, triggered widespread protests by Palestinians and quickly escalated into the current conflict.
"Sharons government has planned.. to explode the situation.. by announcing its determination to allow Israelis to enter al-Aqsa Mosque and pray in it," said the Al-Thawra government newspaper in an editorial.
"Such a declaration, and at this particular time, is certainly not an innocent declaration.. The Israelis and the Americans as well are fully aware of the dangers of undertaking such a provocative step, which harbours sinister intentions that aim at introducing new complications to the already explosive and complicated situation," it added.
Gush Shalom (via Scoop), Ha'aretz and Ireland On-Line coverage of Hanegbi's statements ...
Requiem For The Roadmap?
Gush Shalom via Scoop -- May 19
To cap it all, Sharon's Police Minister Tzahi Hanegbi declared on the Knesset floor that "soon the police will enforce Jewish presence and Jewish personal prayers on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem", knowing full well that no other issue could so strongly inflame both Palestinian national and Muslim religious feeling. And at the same time, the police launched a spectacular midnight raid, arresting the leadership of the Israeli Muslim Movement - the one group which in the past two years, with West Bank and Gazan Muslims completely excluded from Jerusalem, took up the task of mainataining a daily presence at that holy site...
Hanegbi says Jews will soon worship at Temple Mount
Ha'aretz -- May 14
Public Security Minister Tzachi Hanegbi said Wednesday that the Temple Mount would shortly be opened to Jews for visits and praying.
"It will be opened by agreement, but if no agreement is reached, things will be done without agreement," he said. "It is impossible to reconcile ourselves to a situation where it is not permitted for adherents of all religions to visit and pray at the Temple Mount for a prolonged period. There is no justification for this."
Israelis and Palestinians gear up for crunch talks
Ireland On-Line -- May 16
In Jerusalem’s Old City today, hundreds of Israeli police were keeping order during weekly Muslim prayers. Palestinian men under the age of 40 were barred from the Al Aqsa Mosque amid fears they would gather to protest against the arrests this week of the leader of Israel’s Islamic Movement and 14 of the group’s members.
Police believe the movement gave funds to the radical Palestinian group Hamas to help support the families of its suicide bombers.
Israel’s police minister also angered Muslims this week by saying he believed Jews would soon be able to visit the disputed holy site.
Non-Muslims have been barred from the mosque compound since a September 28, 2000 visit by Sharon, then Israel’s opposition leader.
That visit, meant to demonstrate Israeli control, triggered widespread protests by Palestinians and quickly escalated into the current conflict.
Radical Palestinian groups closing Damascus offices
AP via Ha'aretz -- May 20
DAMASCUS, Syria - Radical Palestinian groups were closing down operations in Syria, their offices closed and officials confirming the move following intensified U.S. pressure on Syria to curb Palestinian militants.
[Market day marred by "IDF's operational objectives".]
Market day marred by Hezbollah shelling
Ha'aretz -- May 15
Hezbollah yesterday fired anti-aircraft shells at three locations along the northern border: the Kiryat Shmona-Metula area, Moshav Dovav and the Moshav Zarit-Shlomi region. There were no injuries and no damage. Sources in Kiryat Shmona said that the head of the Israel Defense Force's Northern Command had broken his promise to the town's mayor not to conduct air force flights in Lebanese airspace on Thursdays - market day in Kiryat Shmona - and claimed that an air force operation had prompted the Hezbollah attack. Sources in the Northern Command said the army had promised it would take the needs of the residents into consideration, but that this sometimes contradicted the IDF's operational objectives. (Uri Ash)
Daily Star coverage of this incident.
HAMAS, HIZBULLAH PLAN STRATEGY
MENL --May 14
NICOSIA -- The leaders of Hamas and Hizbullah are drafting strategy amid U.S. pressure to expel groups on the State Department terrorist list harbored by Syria.
Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah met a Hamas delegation over the weekend that included political chief Mussa Abu Marzouq. Mohammed Nazal, a member of the Hamas's politburo, and Hamas representative in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, were also part of the delegation that met Nasrallah.
Syria drops objections to Middle East 'road map'
Financial Times -- May 15
By Judy Dempsey in Damascus
Syria on Thursday dropped its objections to the internationally backed "road map" that sets out a detailed timetable for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by 2005.
Bashar al-Assad, Syrian president, and Farouq al-Shara, his foreign minister, told Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief, they would no longer oppose the new peace plan.
Mr Solana has spent the past week in the region seeking Arab support for the road map, which is sponsored by a diplomatic quartet consisting of the US, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia.
Lebanon Says Foils Plot Against U.S. Embassy
Reuters -- May 15
By Joseph Logan
BEIRUT - Lebanon has arrested nine people plotting an attack on the U.S. embassy and kidnappings to try to force the release of Islamic militant prisoners, military intelligence officials said on Thursday.
News of the arrests came three days after suicide bombings on foreigners' housing compounds in Saudi Arabia killed at least 34 people, including seven Americans, the first major attack on U.S. targets since the war in Iraq.
[A tangent into Iran-al-Qaida connection.]
U.S. checking whether Saudi bombings were planned in Iran
Knight Ridder Newspapers via Miami Herald -- May 14
By JOHN WALCOTT
WASHINGTON - U.S. intelligence agencies are investigating whether senior al-Qaida leaders hiding in Iran may have helped to plan or coordinate the terrorist bombings that killed 34 people, including eight Americans, late Monday in Saudi Arabia.
Intelligence officials said several al-Qaida leaders, including Saif al Adel, who's wanted in connection with the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa and may now be the terrorist group's third-ranking official, and Osama bin Laden's son Saad have found refuge in Iran, where they remain active.
Khatami opposes escalation, destabilizing the region
Arabic News -- May 14
The Iranian President Muhammad Khatami yesterday in Beirut expressed his opposition to any escalation in the Middle East and anything that destabilize the region.
In a speech he delivered in Arabic before a large audience of 50,000 at the sport stadium in Beirut, Khatami said "we do not want to take part in escalating tension in the region or getting involved in destabilizing events."
Has Iran bartered Hizbullah with US for Iraq-based Iranian opposition group?
Al Bawaba -- May 14
14-05-2003
Analysts speaking to Al Bawaba assessed that the main reason behind the recent Lebanese visit of Iranian president, Mohammad Khatami, was to pressure and curb the Lebanese Hizbullah in its struggle with Israel. The visit was also believed to have come following a deal Iran has struck with the US under which the latter will rein in the Iranian rebel group, Mujahideen Khalq, which useed Iraq as a base for its attacks against Iran.
According to analysts, Khatami was in Lebanon to deliver a message to Hizbullah using diplomacy, effectively communicating to them that the era of ‘armed struggle’ has now passed, and that they should be prepared for the anticipated and drastic changes the region will undergo.
Israeli overflights draw fire from Hizbullah
The Daily Star -- May 15
Israeli warplanes flew over southern Lebanon on Wednesday, drawing fire from Hizbullah fighters, Lebanese security officials said.
The fighters fired anti-aircraft guns at two Israeli fighters that flew over the western sector of South Lebanon but they missed, the officials said.
In Jerusalem, Israeli military officials said Hizbullah had fired anti-aircraft shells at “the western sector of the Israeli-Lebanese border,” but declined to comment on the alleged flights by Israeli jets.
“No injuries were reported,” an Israeli Army spokesman said.
Hizbullah ‘not dependent on any foreign force’
‘What we have is solidarity’
The Daily Star -- May 14
by Alia Ibrahim and Nafez Kawas
Hizbullah is a Lebanese reality, and it doesn’t receive instructions from any country, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said during his press conference at the Phoenicia Inter-Continental Hotel Wednesday.
“Hizbullah is not receiving instructions from any country and it does not depend on any foreign force,” Khatami said, adding that Iran also enjoys good relations with Syria and Lebanon, but “that doesn’t mean the three countries interfere in each other’s internal affairs.”
Powell Says U.S. Won't Use Force on Iran, Syria, North Korea
Bloomberg -- May 14
Moscow -- The U.S. plans to use diplomacy rather than military force to persuade Iran, Syria and North Korea to abandon terrorism and shut down nuclear programs, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said, Itar-Tass news service reported.
The U.S. ``don't intend to use the Iraqi model on Iran, Syria or North Korea,'' Powell said, according to the news service. ``We don't plan to use this model to solve other problems. The U.S. isn't studying the world map to start a war.''
Toronto terrorists snuffed by Syria
Calgary Sun -- May 14
By STEPHANIE RUBEC
OTTAWA -- A Toronto-based al-Qaida terrorist cell dismantled in late 2001 was plotting attacks on major government institutions in Canada and the U.S., according to a new report.
The Washington Post reported Monday the Syrian government played a crucial role in helping Canadian and American authorities take down the key players in the al-Qaida cell before they launched their attacks.
A source in Damascus told the Post that Syrian security officers alerted Ottawa of the plot to attack Canadian institutions in late 2001, after they arrested and interrogated an al-Qaida suspect upon his arrival in Syria. He had already passed through two European airports.
[Transcript of Rice's press briefing yesterday.]
National Security Advisor Rice briefs foreign journalists
US Department of State -- May 14
QUESTION: Amal Chmouny, Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper. How genuine is
the statement by the American administration for Syria to withdraw its
troop from Lebanon? And where do you put the relation between USA and
Syria?
DR. RICE: Well, the relationship between the United States and Syria
has been problematic because the policies and behavior of Syria have
been problematic: the Syrian support for terrorism, particularly for
Hezbollah, but also other rejectionist organizations where it comes to
peace in the Middle East; the Syrian occupation of Lebanon, which has
long been U.S. policy that it should end.
And the Syrian relationship has been very difficult. Now, it doesn't
have to remain difficult. There is a path that could create conditions
in which this could be a much better relationship, but we are not
there.
We were very concerned about Syrian activities closing in on the end
of the Iraq conflict. It was obvious that people were escaping into
Syria. It was obvious that they were not being stopped. There was some
improvement in that after we raised the issue, but there is a lot of
work to be done. Syrian weapons of mass destruction programs have to
be accounted for, and Syria should stand up and renounce those and
make it possible to verify that they have given up any aspirations to
weapons of mass destruction.
But it is, frankly, a very difficult relationship and it is not one
that is likely to improve without some major changes in Syrian
behavior.
Rice chides Syria, Iran for supporting terror
Reuters via Ha'aretz -- May 14
WASHINGTON - The United States chided Syria and Iran on Wednesday for their support for "terrorism" and urged Syria to show its commitment to Middle East peace by pulling its troops out of Lebanon.
Speaking at the Foreign Press Center in Washington, White House national security adviser Condoleezza Rice described the relationship between America and Syria as a difficult one because of its support for terror activities.
"The relationship between the United States and Syria has been problematic because of the policy and behavior of Syria - Syria's support for terrorism," Rice said.
Collapse of Iraqi trade hits Syrian economy hard
The Daily Star via MENAFN -- May 13
DAMASCUS: Omar Abu Said spent $225,000 on purchasing and equipping two factories south of Baghdad to manufacture high-quality industrial alcohol from distilled dates. But just as his factories were ready to start production, the war in Iraq began.
"I don't know what has happened to my factories," Abu Said said. "There was a lot of fighting near them during the war and I'm worried that they have been damaged or destroyed. All my savings were invested in that project."
Abu Said is one of many Syrian businessmen who are lamenting the collapse of trade with Iraq, which has dealt an unwelcome blow to the shaky Syrian economy.
But some analysts believe the impact on Syria will be limited to the short term and may even encourage businesses to seek new markets elsewhere.
After meeting Khatami, Nasrallah says Hizbullah enjoys backing of Iran
Al Bawaba -- May 13
The head of Lebanon's Hizbullah said on Tuesday that he had the backing of Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, despite U.S. demands and pressure.
Syrians Worry About Their Baath Party
AP via Austin-American Statesman -- May 13
BEIRUT, Lebanon --Despite three decades of hostility between the rival Baath parties of Syria and Iraq, the Syrian Baathists are watching with concern how the party that ruled neighboring Iraq under Saddam Hussein has been crushed and dissolved by the U.S. forces in Iraq.
[Harsh words for Christians? Any form of criticism is "bashing"?]
State Dept. Duped by Syria, State Official Bashes Christians
Christian Broadcast Network -- May 13
By Chris Mitchell
Some observers feel Syria is dancing circles around the State Department with public assurances but little concrete action.
CBN.com – JERUSALEM — Syria recently promised Colin Powell that it would take action against terrorists inside its borders, but it hasn't fulfilled those promises. And in a separate story, a State Department official has some harsh words for conservatives and Christians.
Syrian President Bashar Assad assured Powell that Syria would close the offices of Palestinian terrorist groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad. But Assad told The Washington Post that there are differences of opinion about what was meant by "closures" of the offices.
So the offices remain open, and other actions like cutting aid to Hezbollah have not been implemented. Some observers feel Syria is dancing circles around the State Department with public assurances but little concrete action.
In another State Department issue, The Jerusalem Post reported Monday that U.S. Assistant Secretary of State William Burns criticized U.S. groups that support Israel. The groups include conservatives, Christians and representatives of AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby in Washington.
Burns met with left-wing Knesset members, Peace Now activists and Palestinian representatives on May 4th about the new peace proposal called the "road map." According to the minutes of the meeting, Burns stated that "the common sense of all peoples will override the conservative and Christian viewpoints once they see the road map's potential."
SYRIA: AN OK FOR PRIVATE RADIO STATIONS
Monday Morning (Beirut) -- May 12
The Syrian authorities have approved the creation of four private radio stations, but they will be limited to broadcasting music and advertisements, according to the official SANA news agency.
The stations are expected to begin broadcasting on FM wavelength in the coming months to Syria and neighboring countries, SANA said.
Syria’s two government-run radio stations, Radio Damascus and the Voice of the People, are the only ones authorized to broadcast programs on political issues.
A parliamentary bill on setting up private radio stations was approved by the Syrian government in January 2002.
In 2001, Syria authorized the creation of two private newspapers, the satirical Al-Dumari paper and an economic paper, Al-Iqtissadiya.
Iran, Syria, Lebanon all shun confrontation: Lebanese PM
AFP via IranMania -- May 13
BEIRUT - Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri said after talks Monday with Iran's President Mohammad Khatami that Beirut, Tehran and Damascus all shunned confrontation in the Middle East and sought a global settlement
"And I think that cooperation among the moderate countries will lead towards a better situation in the region," he said. "Khatami represents moderation in the Muslim world."
On the issue of US pressure on Lebanon and its ally Syria to disarm the Lebanese Shiite Muslim fundamentalist militia Hezbollah, Hariri said the focus should be on finding a comprehensive settlement in the Middle East.
U.S. troops reopen Iraqi border crossing with Syria, general says
AP via San Jose Mercury News -- May 13
MATT KELLEY
WASHINGTON - U.S. forces on Tuesday reopened a border crossing between Iraq and Syria, the commander of the Army's 101st Airborne Division said.
Maj. Gen. David Petraeus said his forces, based in Fort Campbell, Ky., reopened a crossing near the northern city of Mosul "to trade in accordance with United Nations regulations." He was referring to remaining sanctions that ban shipments of weapons and other restricted material to Iraq.
[Most of the interview was concerning Israel-Palestine issues, but the following except covered Syria.]
Powell Interview with Israeli Television Channel 2 on May 12
US Department of State -- May 13
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, last week you said that President Assad of
Syria lied to you. What makes you believe that he doesn't do it again,
especially after an interview to Newsweek when he said that he is not
going to close the terror organization offices, and he's not going to
crack down on Hezbollah?
SECRETARY POWELL: He did mislead me once before. It is not a matter of
me believing him or not believing him now, it's a matter of what he
does. What I said to him very clearly is there are things that we
believe he should do if he wants a better relationship with the United
States, if he wants to play a helpful role in solving the crisis here
in the region, and frankly if he wants to have good relations with a
neighbor of his that will have a new government, a government that I
believe will be very pro-American, very pro-Western, and will not view
with favor any efforts on the part of Syria to either destabilize Iraq
or to continue its terrorist support activities in Israel and in the
territories.
So I believe that President Bashar al-Assad has every incentive to
respond to the issues that I put before him last weekend. If he
chooses not to respond, if he chooses to dissemble, if he chooses to
find excuses, then he will find that he is on the wrong side of
history. He will find that he will not have better relations with the
United States, and he can take his choice. Does he want to have good
relations with the United States? Or does he want to have good
relations with Hamas? His choice.
Hizbullah braces for America’s wrath
Politburo member expects no change in support
The Daily Star -- May 12
Alia Ibrahim
Hizbullah appears to be the main target of the United States in the Middle East, now that the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has been toppled. It faces accusations of carrying out terrorist activities but insists it is a legitimate resistance group.
Ghaleb Abu Zeinab, a member of the party’s politburo, stressed that the resistance has two clear and simple aims, liberating the occupied lands and deterring Israel.
Speaking to The Daily Star, he was very firm in denying accusations that the party undertook terrorist activities during the 80s, including any involvement in Western hostage-taking and the bombing of the US Marine barracks.
He said that all those activities had taken place before 1985, the year when Hizbullah was officially formed, adding that this was a time when chaos had reigned in the country.
[How relations between the US and Iran may affect relations between Israel, Lebanon and Syria.]
US and Iran hold secret talks after 23 years of hostility
The Independent -- May 13
By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
The United States and Iran have held secret talks that could have an important bearing on the interlocking problems of Afghanistan, the future government of Iraq and the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Though Bush administration officials denied yesterday the dialogue could lead to a normalisation of relations, senior representatives of the two countries have had three rounds of talks this year.
The next session is due next week in Geneva – technically under the auspices of the United Nations, but in practice they are bilateral discussions between the Iranians and an American team led by Zalmay Khalilzad, President George Bush's special envoy for Afghanistan and Iraq.
The contacts were disclosed as the Iranian President, Mohammad Khatami, began a historic visit to Beirut. He was expected to make a nod in the direction of one important demand by Washington – for Hizbollah guerrillas, who operate from Lebanon and are backed by Tehran, to rein in attacks on Israeli-occupied territories.
In oblique confirmation of Iran's desire to lower the temperature with the US, Rafik al-Hariri, the Lebanese Prime Minister, declared after talks with Mr Khatami yesterday that neither wanted to inflame tensions in the region, and would press for a diplomatic solution. "We still have in Lebanon part of our land occupied, the Syrians have the Golan Heights. All these need to be solved," Mr Hariri said, referring to the Shebaa farms and to the territory Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war.
[Exceprt from a review of "Water Wars: Drought, Flood, Folly, and the Politics of Thirst" by Diane Raines Ward.]
Water, water everywhere, but too few drops for all
The Sun -- May 11
It's easy to believe, for instance, that the tension in the Middle East is all about religion and nationalism. Take the Six-Day War of 1967. According to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, "In reality, it started two-and-a-half years earlier, on the day Israel decided to act against the diversion of the Jordan [River]."
Israel, through the canals and pipes of its National Water Carrier, had been diverting water from the Jordan River to deliver water to its people. The Jordan has its source in several streams that originate in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. Arab League leaders, angered by the water diversion downstream, decided to do their own diversion upstream.
Israel warned its neighbors that if they tried to cut off any of the water supply there would be hell to pay. They did, and there was. Israel bombed water projects on the Hasbani and Wazzani rivers in Lebanon and the Yarmouk River dam in Syria, then annexed the Golan Heights, thus ensuring control of the Jordan River's headwaters.
After war, Syria speeds reforms
The Washington Post via MSNBC -- May 12
By Alan Sipress
DAMASCUS, Syria — For more than 20 years, Syrian boys and girls have worn military-style school uniforms, olive green with stripes on their epaulets to signify their grade and caps to match.
[Another Commonwealth Club speaker.]
ISRAEL'S CURRENT SECURITY CHALLENGES: AN INSIDER'S VIEW OF ISRAELI STRATEGIC THINKING
MONDAY MAY 19 | INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
ARIEH O'SULLIVAN, Military Correspondent, The Jerusalem Post
How will Israel face the impact of American action in the new Middle East? O'Sullivan has covered the Israeli defense establishment for 13 years and will examine its options regarding the Palestinians, Iraq, and the strategic relationship with the United States.
[Commonwealth Club, the nation's largest and oldest public affairs forum, hosts a speaker who will discuss Hezbollah.]
HIZBOLLAH: THE NEW POLITICAL/MILITARY MODEL
DWIGHT JAMES SIMPSON, Ph.D., Professor of International Relations, San Francisco State University
Hizbollah is an active political party in Lebanon, with elected representation in the Lebanese Parliament. Its military wing engaged Israeli occupation forces and the Israeli-sponsored South Lebanese Army, both of whom withdrew from Lebanese territory. Simpson's analysis of Hizbollah is based on extensive field experience throughout the Middle East, including a rare interview with Hizbollah leader Sheikh Nasrallah.
via SF Indymedia announcement of this talk, followed by a trail of comments, including wisenheimer remarks by the editor of this page.
[Firecrackers at picnic spark international incident.]
Lebanon denies bomb thrown at Israeli town; Hezbollah ready to confront attack
AP via Ha'aretz -- May 12
BEIRUT - Lebanon yesterday denied reports that an explosive charge was thrown at an Israeli settlement from its territory, while a high ranking Hezbollah official said the guerrilla group was ready to confront any possible Israeli attack on Lebanon.
A Lebanese security official said in a statement obtained by The Associated Press that Israeli media outlets had erroneously reported that Lebanese youths had "thrown an explosive charge across the border" toward an Israeli settlement near the southern Lebanese town of Marwahin.
The statement said "picnicking youths (had thrown)... firecrackers at the mentioned area."
U.S. to Syria: Don't Be 'On Wrong Side of History'
Reuters -- May 11
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Sunday that Syria would find itself "on the wrong side of history" if it tried to destabilize postwar Iraq or continue harboring radical Palestinian groups.
Powell spoke in an Israeli television interview after launching talks with Israel and the Palestinians on implementing a new "road map" peace plan.
He said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should have "every incentive to respond" to issues he raised in talks with him in Damascus a week ago addressing strategic change in the Middle East after the fall of Iraq's Saddam Hussein in a U.S.-led war.
Washington wants Syria to help in rounding up Saddam loyalists, discourage the spread of mass-destruction weapons in the region and cease backing Palestinian and Lebanese groups that Washington classifies as terrorist, concerned that their conflict with Israel could endanger the "road map."
"What I said to (Assad) very clearly is that there are things we believe he should do if he wants a better relationship with the United States, if he wants to play a helpful role in solving the crisis in the region," Powell told Israeli TV.
"So if President Assad chooses not to respond, if he chooses to dissemble, if he chooses to find excuses, then he will find that he is on the wrong side of history," he went on.
Powell has dismissed suggestions that Syria was next on any list of U.S. military targets after Iraq.
After his meeting with Assad, Powell said Syria had taken measures to rein in Palestinian militant groups with offices in Damascus by carrying out "some closures."
Syrian officials said later the groups' offices served as media outlets and that none had been shut down. They said they were interested in dialogue, not ultimatums from Washington.
Assad, in a Newsweek magazine interview released on Saturday, linked curbing radical Palestinian groups to getting the occupied Golan Heights back from Israel.
Israel captured the Heights from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and Assad said Syria was prepared to negotiate with Israel to get it back.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said last week he was ready to reopen peace negotiations with Syria but without guarantees of the outcome.
thanks, tom
Khatami In Beirut, Hizbullah High On The Agenda
IslamOnline -- May 12
BEIRUT, May 12 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Iran's President Mohammad Khatami arrived in the Lebanese capital Beirut Monday, May 12, to a tumultuous welcome by Lebanon's Shiites for a landmark three-day visit, the first by an Iranian head of state since Tehran's 1979 Islamic revolution.
Greeted at Beirut airport by the Lebanese triumvirate of President Emile Lahoud, Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Khatami's motorcade drove through tens of thousands of people lining the route, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
[Much ado about a few comments by two Brits in Syria. Political speech seen as criminal act by Telegraph reporter.]
British Muslim students in Syria support suicide raids
The Daily Telegraph -- May 11
By Damien Mcelroy in Damascus
British muslims studying at a radical Islamic teaching centre in Syria have admitted that they support suicide attacks against Israeli targets.
Two men, who gave their names as Amir Aziz and Tahir Sharaf, told The Telegraph that they admired the action taken by Asif Mohammed Hanif, the Briton who blew himself up in a Tel Aviv bar almost two weeks ago, and his alleged accomplice, Omar Khan Sharif.
[Interview with Bashar al Assad.]
On U.S. Demands, Iraq and Sharon
Washington Post -- May 11
Syria's 37-year-old president, Bashar Assad, is facing tough choices. Recently, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell asked Assad to stop Palestinian groups that support terrorist activities from functioning freely in Damascus, as they have for years. Moreover, Powell asked Assad to rein in Hezbollah -- the Lebanese-based terrorist group that operates with Syrian complicity. The U.S. focus on Syria intensified during the recent war, after military supplies and volunteers flowed across its border into Iraq. In Assad's first interview with a U.S. publication, he talked last week in Damascus with Newsweek-Washington Post's Lally Weymouth about the U.S. pressure and the prospects for peace between Israel and Syria. Excerpts:
Nasrallah: U.S. offers to conditionally recognize Hezbollah
Ha'aretz -- May 11
By Daniel Sobelman, Haaretz Correspondent
The secretary-general of Hezbollah, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, says that the United States has offered to recognize his organization and its political role in Lebanon in return for a suspension of its violent actions against Israel, the adoption of a neutral position in the Arab-Israeli conflict, and intelligence cooperation between Hezbollah and the United States.
Nasrallah stressed that Hezbollah would not disarm as demanded by the United States and Israel.
via tacitus
[An analysis of Syria's grip on Lebanon.]
Lords Over Lebanon
Syria's still in charge, but the U.S. presence in Iraq could change that.
Slate -- May 8
By Michael Young
Although it went unreported in the international media, during last weekend's visit to Beirut by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, 250 protesters took to the streets demanding the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon. Riot police intervened and several demonstrators were imprisoned or taken to the hospital. Judging from Powell's mollifying statements on Syria, they can probably expect little help from Washington.
[Nasrallah continues to voice defiance.]
Hezbollah may help Iraqis if they decide to fight Americans
AP via San Francisco Chronicle -- May 8
SAM F. GHATTAS
BEIRUT -- The Hezbollah leader said Thursday his guerrilla organization -- which fought Israeli forces to a standoff in southern Lebanon -- might join Iraqis if they decide to launch an insurgency against U.S. forces.
"It is a matter first for the Iraqi people to decide," Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said on the Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera.
Nasrallah also said his guerrillas would not disarm as the United States has demanded.
"My information is that what was demanded is for the resistance to end and be disarmed," he said expectations voiced by Secretary of State Colin Powell during a visit to Syria and Lebanon last week.
"This matter is out of the question," Nasrallah said on the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera.
"Are we supposed to confront the Israeli aggression by speeches?" he said in the lengthy interview which included telephone calls from viewers. "People without weapons are helpless ... All they can do is stage a demonstration."
[In my commentary I've said a few times that US pressure on Syria, Lebanon and Hezbollah are at least in part about the US responding to direction from Likud. Thanks for the verification Ariel!]
Sharon Says Ready for Talks with Syria
Reuters -- May 8
By Maia Ridberg
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said on Thursday he was ready to reopen peace talks with Syria without preconditions, three years after contacts collapsed over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights
Sharon said his government would wait before entering into any diplomatic initiative with Syria to give time for U.S. pressure on Damascus to rein in Palestinian militants based there, as well as Lebanese Hizbollah guerrillas, to bear fruit.
'I held serious consultations with the foreign minister and we came to an agreement that we must wait a number of weeks to avoid interfering with American pressure on Syria or Lebanon to take steps necessary for the security of Israel,' said Sharon.
Bush Administration
Readying for 2004 Invasion of Iran
Centre for Research on Globalisation -- March 23
by John Stanton
Between April of 2003 and November 2004, the US, UK and Israel will accelerate instability operations in Iran and engage in global disinformation campaigns to belittle the political and military leadership there. They will take to the airwaves to portray to Americans a country beset by internal strife and dissension. Corporate media will revisit the Iranian Hostage Crisis and display for war-hungry Americans footage from the 1978-80 timeframe. That will include images of Khomeni's henchmen hanging and executing the Shah's secret police. Movies such as Sally Field's Not Without My Child portraying many Iranians as "evil doers" will be broadcast by all the networks. Reza Pahlavi, son of the former Shah of Iran, will be featured with greater frequency on CNN, Fox, ABC, NBC, CBS and PBS.
via abuddhas memes
World Opinion Roundup
High-Tech Hezbollah Has Its Defenders
Washington Post -- May 8
By Jefferson Morley
They have their own militia, political party, and TV station.
They have their own Web sites, hospitals and computer games.
They are Hezbollah, the "Party of God" that represents millions of Shiites in Lebanon -- and worries Bush administration officials in Washington.
Sources: Palestinian factions close Damascus offices
Al Bawaba -- May 8
Informed Palestinian sources have confirmed to Al Bawaba that four Palestinian factions have decided to close their Damascus offices in response to escalating tensions between Syria and the United States.
A Palestinian official in Damascus said that the four factions, namely Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command, have ‘decided willingly’ to freeze activities in the country and hence close their offices in the Syrian capital.
The anonymous source said, “The factions received no orders from the Syrian authorities concerning the office closure. They took the decision on their own so that they wouldn’t cause Damascus any further embarrassment, particularly in view of the pressure imposed on Syria by the US which claims these organizations are ‘terrorist’ organizations.”
Nasrallah: Syria, Lebanon not pressuring Hezbollah to disarm
Middle East Online -- May 8
BEIRUT - Neither Syria nor Lebanon is exerting any pressure on the Lebanese Shiite Muslim movement Hezbollah to disarm in response to US demands, its leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said in remarks published Thursday.
"There is no official Lebanese or Syrian pressure seeking to make us accept measures related to US demands," Nasrallah told the pro-Syrian daily As-Safir.
Syria Hands Over Suspect in Lebanon Bomb Spree
Reuters -- May 8
BEIRUT - Syria has handed over to neighboring Lebanon a man suspected of belonging to a gang blamed for a string of bomb attacks against Western fast food outlets, a senior judicial official said on Thursday.
Syria helped U.S. catch 'Mrs. Anthrax'
UPI -- May 8
By Richard Sale
Syrian intelligence, in a good-faith effort to boost cooperation with the United States in the war on terror, provided intelligence that resulted in U.S. forces taking custody of one of Iraq's top biological weapons scientists, administration officials said.
[Transcript of Wolfowitz interview.]
Wolfowitz Criticizes Turkey for Not Backing U.S. on Iraq
US Dept. of State -- May 7
CNN Turk: But if you make a prognosis of what went wrong earlier,
since you mentioned for example the military -- the traditional
institution which had strong connections to the United States -- did
not play a leadership role, so for the future to repair the
relationship and bring it back to its original level that means that
you have to need a leadership role to be played by those who haven't
played it. What kind of a role the military might have because after
all the military is not working in Turkey's parliament political
parties (inaudible)?
CNN Turk: And they have been criticized by getting involved in
politics.
Wolfowitz: I'm not suggesting you get involved in politics at all. I
mean, I think, all I'm saying is that when you had a issue of Turkey's
national interest and national strategy I think it's perfectly
appropriate, especially in your system, for the military to say it was
in Turkey's interest to support the United States in that effort.
CNN Turk: Didn't they say that?
Wolfowitz: I don't know. My impression is they didn't say it with the
kind of strength that would have made a difference. But look - let's
not dwell too much on the past.
Update:
The State Department link in the headline is broken. Check the comments page for the full transcript plus official links.
Dr. Paul's Words of Wisdom
NTV-MSNBC report on Turkish reaction
[Commentary from Turkey.]
The U.S. Has Already Made Up Its Mind On Turkey
Radikal via Turkish Press -- May 7
Columnist Ismet Berkan writes on the shifting sands of Turkish-US relations. A summary of his column is as follows:
[snip]
Reading between the lines, here is Wolfowitz’s plain meaning: Turkey must do whatever the US wants it to do. For those familiar with Wolfowitz’s past remarks and statements, you already know that he has never before directed such harsh remarks towards Turkey nor employed such a negative tone. Yesterday, he overtly stressed that Turkey cannot pursue independent policies on certain sensitive issues.
FBI Focus Increases On Hamas, Hezbollah
Ruling Enables Intensified Probes
Washington Post -- May 8
By John Mintz
Wielding new powers granted by a six-month-old federal court decision, the FBI has greatly intensified decade-old investigations of alleged U.S. supporters of the Islamic Resistance Movement [Hamas] and Hezbollah terrorist groups, according to government officials.
[Another tangent ... And by the way, thanks Israel! We appreciate the guidance. Perhaps Mofaz can emulate Wolfowitz's performance in Turkey, by coming on 60 Minutes to explain what Israel would like the US to do about Iran.]
U.S.: Iran violating nuclear treaty
Wants global denouncement
New York Times viaThe Charlotte Observer -- May 8
STEVEN R. WEISMAN
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is concerned that Iran has accelerated its covert nuclear program and is now seeking broad international support for an official finding that Tehran has violated its commitment not to produce nuclear weapons, administration officials said Wednesday.
"It's not just that Iran is speeding up its nuclear plans," said an administration official. "It's also that we've only recently learned some things about their program that have been going on for two years. There's also a lot of hammering from the Israelis for us to take this problem seriously."
Commentary
My experiences with the disappearing story about "Rice blocked plan for raids on Syria", I've been acutely aware of the tactic of "the reaction becomes the story." The lead of the Rice story was no longer about a radical hawk v. moderate hawk showdown. The lead was the White House busting on the press.
With the story on Wolfowitz v. Turkey, I am concerned that twist on this technique will occur. Rather than the story being about Wolfowitz's radical and dangerous call for the Turkish military to show more leadership in the political arena, the story is about Turkey's defiance.
See NTV-MSNBC and AP stories below.
Weblog: Convert Killed in Attack on Missionary's Lebanon Home
Plus: Dobson and other conservatives reportedly thinking about leaving Republican Party, YWAM missionaries hospitalized with SARS, and other stories from online sources around the world.
Christianity Today -- May 7
Compiled by Ted Olsen
Dutch missionary Jakob Griffioen (alternate but apparently incorrect spellings: Jacob Gerifon, Grifion) and his German wife woke up around midnight last night to the sound of someone at the front door of their ground floor apartment in the northern Lebanon town of Tripoli. When they checked to see what was happening, all they saw was someone running away down the street—and a package at their door.
"They called for help from a Jordanian and an Egyptian, two of their followers, who live in the adjacent apartment," a police officer told the AFP news service. "The Jordanian, who was the first to arrive, was killed instantly by the explosion of the device."
[This will be the first visit by a president of Iran to Lebanon since 1979.]
Iran, Lebanon to ink agreements during Khatami's upcoming Beirut
visit
IRNA -- May 8
Beirut -- Iran and Lebanon reviewed draft agreements
that are to be finalized shortly, it was announced Wednesday.
In a meeting Wednesday, Iran's Minister of Housing and Urban
Development Ali Abdolalizadeh and head of the Iran-Lebanon Joint
Economic Commission and the Lebanese Minster of Commerce Marwan
Hemadah, Minister of Finance Fowad Siniorah and Head of the central
Bank Riaz Salamah reviewed the draft bilateral agreements.
Heads of several key organizations of Lebanon as well as Iran's
envoy to Beirut Masoud Edrisi were also present in the meeting.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, Hemadah said the talks
between the Iranian and Lebanese officials were in fact intended to
prepare documents and agreements that would be inked during the
upcoming visit to Lebanon by the Iranian President Seyed Mohammad
Khatami.
He said the plan by the Iranian president to visit Lebanon is an
indication of the Iran-Lebanon brotherly links.
He said agreements on the sports, youth affairs, energy, customs
and trade transactions are to be signed during the residential visit.
He thanked the Iranian authorities for opening credit line for
Lebanon adding that the credit documents are to be inked during the
visit too.
Abdolalizadeh also termed as positive the results of his talks
with the Lebanese officials and said talks on the preparations of the
presidential visits were pretty fruitful.
The Iranian minister said Iran is to provide a 50-million dlrs
loan to Lebanon adding that the loan is to be spent to implement four
major developmental projects in Lebanon.
Construction of some slaughterhouses, roads and implementation of
energy and water supply systems projects are among these developmental
plans, he said.
He said the Khatami trip would be a turning point in the
political, economic and cultural ties between the two countries.
He thanked the Lebanese officials for making proper preparations
for Khatami's visit.
President Khatami is to visit Lebanon shortly to discuss the
all-out Tehran-Beirut bilateral ties as well issues of mutual
interest.
During his visit that will be performed at the official invitation
by Lebanese President General Emile Lahoud, Khatami will ink several
bilateral agreements with Lebanese authorities.
This is the first visit to Lebanon by an Iranian President since
the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran.
Khatami who is to lead a ranking delegation to Beirut will discuss
the developments in the region and in particular the Iraqi issue.
The two sides are expected to exchange views on a wide spectrum of
issues including the Middle East current situation, the latest
developments in Iraq and Palestine and the actions by the Zionist
regime in the wake of the collapse of the Iraqi regime.
Commenting on the presidential visit to Lebanon, Iranian
Ambassador to Beirut Masoud Edrisi earlier told IRNA that during his
three-day stay in Lebanon, the Iranian president will receive Iranian
scholars, top clerics, politicians and academics living in Lebanon.
The ambassador said the Lebanese have a strong interest in the
Islamic Republic of Iran since they are quite aware that among the
Muslim and regional states it was Iran which has stood beside Lebanon
in tough times.
They are also quite aware that Iran has played a key role in the
construction of the infrastructures of Lebanon, the envoy added.
Bomb targets Dutch evangelist in Lebanon
UPI -- May 7
BEIRUT -- Security authorities in Lebanon stepped up efforts Wednesday to head off anti-Western attacks after a bomb targeting a Dutch evangelist and his family exploded overnight outside their northern Lebanon home.
Another intended target was the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, Vincent Battle, who was supposed to die in a rocket attack on his car some weeks ago, security sources said. Lebanese General Prosecutor Judge Adnan Addoum confirmed the report, saying Khaled al-Ali -- was arrested last week in connection with bombings targeting U.S. franchise restaurants in Lebanon -- confessed that his Muslim fundamentalist network was planning to assassinate Battle.
Kerry calls for pressure on Syria and Lebanon, Dean agrees
AP via the Charleston Gazette -- May 7
By WILL LESTER
WASHINGTON -- Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry urged President Bush to label Syria and Lebanon "money-laundering concerns'' following reports that $1 billion stolen from Iraq may have been transported to Syria.
Kerry got support in that request from an unexpected source, Howard Dean, a competitor for the nomination and a frequent critic.
Gul commends Syria's stances on ME peace
Arabic News -- May 7
Syria's Turkish Premier and Foreign Minister, Abdullah Gul, underlined the correctness of the Syrian position towards the peace process in the region.
In a statement in Ankara on Tuesday, Gul stressed the necessity of implementation of the United Nations resolutions stipulating the full Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Arab territories including the Golan Heights and the establishment of a Palestinian state as a condition for realizing just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East.
He expressed comfort over the results of the U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell's recent talks in Damascus.
He expected that the Syrian-Turkish relations will witness important developments during the forthcoming stage.
Gul stressed the necessity of Turkey's dialogue with Syria and Iran for maintaining Iraq's unity, independence, sovereignty and security.
Previous Stories:
Jumhuriate: Turkey for closer relations with Syria (5/3/2003)
Al-Shara - Gul's press conference on Iraq, developments (4/30/2003)
Syrian Turkish parliamentary talks (4/30/2003)
[More on Wolfowitz's arrogant foray into Turkish politics.]
Turkish premier brushes aside criticism by U.S. Deputy
Defense Secretary Wolfowitz
AP via Boston Globe -- May 7
ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday rejected U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz's call that Turkey concede it made a mistake by not opening its doors to the U.S. military during the Iraq war.
''Turkey, from the very beginning, never made any mistakes, and has taken all the necessary steps in all sincerity,'' Erdogan told reporters.
In an interview broadcast Tuesday on CNN-Turk, Wolfowitz criticized Ankara for its refusal to allow the United States to base troops in Turkey or use its military bases during the war. That refusal, which came amid strong Turkish public opposition to the war, has increased tension between the two NATO allies.
Wolfowitz said he wanted Turkey to change its attitude.
''Let's have a Turkey that steps up and says, 'We made a mistake, we should have known how bad things were in Iraq, but we know now. Let's figure out how we can be as helpful as possible to the Americans,''' Wolfowitz said. ''I'd like to see a different sort of attitude than I have yet detected.''
Secretary of State Colin Powell, however, insisted that while Washington had been ''disappointed'' by Turkish decision before the war, ''they're working with us now in a very cooperative way.''
''Notwithstanding that disappointment ... we have a good partnership with Turkey, and I'm sure it will continue to grow in the years ahead,'' he told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York.
Turkey's deputy chief of military staff, Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, rejected Wolfowitz's assertions.
''The Turkish Armed Forces always carries out its duties in a democratic way. It has done so until now and will continue to do so,'' he told reporters. ''It would not be normal in a democratic country for the armed forces to intervene after a motion goes to parliament and is rejected there.''
Turks feared the war would derail Turkey's frail economic recovery and destabilize the region.
Turkey allowed the United States to use its airspace after the war had begun.
Wolfowitz also called for the predominantly Muslim nation to follow Washington's line in its relations with neighboring Iran and Syria.
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul recently visited Syria, and Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref paid a visit to Turkey, stoking concerns that Turkey's government, formed by a party with roots in political Islam, is moving away from its U.S. ties.
[Provisional Secretary of State Wolfowitz admonishes Turkish nation, calls on Turkish military to exert greater influence over political decisions.]
US wants Turkey on side over Iran, Syria
The US Deputy Defence Secretary also criticised Turkey for not doing more to support its ally in the recent war against Iraq.
NTV-MSNBC -- May 7
A senior Bush Administration official has called on Turkey to give greater backing to Washington’s hard line policies regarding Iran and Syria.
Speaking to Turkish television Tuesday, US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz also said that the US had been disappointed in the failure of Ankara to support allied efforts in the war against neighbouring Iraq.
In particular he singled out the Turkish armed forces for not being more decisive when Turkey was debating whether or not to allow US troops to be deployed inside the country as part of efforts to open a second front against Iraq.
“I think for whatever reason, they did not play the strong leadership role,” Wolfowitz said.
The Deputy Defence Secretary said that Turkey should now work to rebuild its ties with the US and give greater support to Washington’s position regarding both Syria and Iran, which it claims give aid to terrorism and, in the case of Iran, may be trying to develop weapons of mass destruction.
“… let’s have a Turkey that steps up and says, ‘We made a mistake, we should have known how bad things were in Iraq, but we know now. Let’s figure out how we can be as helpful as possible to the Americans’,” Wolfowitz said.
Rice warns Syria on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction
AP via San Francisco Chronicle -- May 7
MADRID, Spain --
The United States would be forced to act if it discovered that Damascus allowed Iraq to hide weapons of mass destruction in Syria during the war, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said in an interview [with Spanish press] published Wednesday.
[Article also includes denial of a Syrian bid to resume talks with Israel prior to US invasion of Iraq.]
Syria: U.S. reaffirms Golan Heights return
UPI -- May 7
By Thanaa Imam
DAMASCUS, Syria -- Secretary of State Colin Powell renewed a U.S. commitment to Syria on the return of the Golan Heights as held by Syria in 1967 before being occupied by Israel, a Syrian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Wednesday.
[The bomb suspects are not a new story. The American-related targets are not new. The link between the bomb suspects and a threat against a specific American official is new. This comes on the heels of a conviction related to al Queda, making it the second "War on Terror" story out of Lebanon since Powell's visit on Saturday. Are we seeing a State v. DoD media war?]
Lebanon Says Bomb Suspects Tried To Kill US Envoy
MSNBC via Overseas Security Advisory Council -- May 7
BEIRUT, May 7 — Lebanese officials said on Wednesday that suspects detained for a series of bomb attacks on Western targets had also tried to kill the U.S. ambassador to the country. In a statement, the army said it had arrested several members of a network blamed for a string of bombings at fast food restaurants over the last year, and accused them of a "failed attempt to assassinate the ambassador of a major power."
A senior security official said the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon had been the target. An embassy spokesperson declined to comment immediately on the report.
"The army intelligence directorate, with the cooperation of the security apparatus of brotherly Syrian forces working in Lebanon, was able to apprehend a number of those who took part in the blasts and other previous terrorist acts," the army statement said.
The Lebanese army said at the weekend it had arrested the head of the network blamed for bombings of fast food restaurants, including a large car bomb which failed to explode outside a Beirut McDonalds in April.
[Another story on UN comments regarding Hezbollah in south Lebanon -- with background and analysis.]
Goksel: Army effectively deployed in South
Official says hizbullah partly to thank for calm
The Daily Star -- May 6
Nicholas Blanford
The Lebanese Army is already deployed effectively along the border with Israel and, with Hizbullah’s help, is responsible for the prevailing calm in South Lebanon, a senior UNIFIL official says.
Timur Goksel told The Daily Star that Hizbullah’s contribution toward months of peace and quiet in southern Lebanon “cannot be ignored at all.”
The veteran peacekeeper’s assertion is certain to be controversial, coming amid strong calls by the United States for Hizbullah to be removed from the border district and replaced by army troops.
[snip]
Goksel said that the calm along the border was due to the tight coordination between the military and Hizbullah.
“As far as I am concerned, (the army) is already in South Lebanon, very much so,” Goksel said. “Today’s calm in South Lebanon is due to the Lebanese Army, Lebanese intelligence and Hizbullah … Hizbullah’s local intelligence-gathering has no match. Their input cannot be ignored at all.”
[A brief tangent into another Arab country which has a complicated relationship with the US.]
Saudi Arabia: The pendulum swings
Asia Times -- May 7
By Syed Saleem Shahzad
KARACHI - The road map for peace in the Middle East envisages as a final destination an independent Palestinian state. But along the way, it will also certainly call for the curtailment of organizations such as Hamas and the Islamic Jehad, which in turn will put pressure on the main sponsor of these groups, Saudi Arabia.
Over the past few months, sections of the Saudi media, some circles of the royal family and the clergy and intellectuals have speculated that after Iraq, the US is determined to bring Saudi Arabia to heel.
[A nuanced analysis of the subtleties of Lebanese politics and the complex history of the Israeli-Lebanese conflict over the past two decades.]
Lebanese Leaders Siding With Terrorists
Wheeling News-Register -- May 6
Lebanese leaders apparently weren't listening when President Bush, during the days after Sept. 11, 2001, warned that nations not with the United States in the war against terrorism will be counted as against us.
Secretary of State Colin Powell on Saturday sought Lebanon's cooperation in eliminating a serious threat to peace in the Middle East. Specifically, Powell asked that Lebanese armed forces be moved into the country's southern area to replace a large contingent of Hezbollah fighters now in that region.
Hezbollah, a terrorist group supported by both Syria and Iran, has as its primary goal the destruction of Israel. Period. The presence of hundreds of Hezbollah fighters on the border between Lebanon and Israel gives the terrorists easy access to their enemy. It makes terrorist assaults against Israelis much easier for Hezbollah.
But Powell was told in no uncertain terms that Lebanon will not cooperate.
In rebuffing the United States, Lebanese leaders also are thumbing their noses at the United Nations, which also has sought removal of the Hezbollah forces.
Clearly, Lebanese leaders have chosen to side with terrorism. They should receive one more reminder that nations supporting terror become enemies of the United States. Then, U.S. leaders should ask the United Nations to impose sanctions against Lebanon.
Tel Aviv bombing trail leads to Damascus
Jane's Terrorism Intelligence Center -- May 6
By Alon Ben-David
Israeli Intelligence sources allege that Hanif and Sharif first met one another in Damascus. Hanif, believed to have been activated there, arrived in Damascus for the last time five months ago, while Sharif was alleged to have been activated in the UK and traveled to Syria in March. The men were met in Damascus by Hamas representatives, Israeli intelligence claims, but received training from another group, possibly Hizbullah or Al-Qaeda.
The explosives used in the bombing were also prepared in Syria, Israeli intelligence believes, but were probably brought into Israel by a third party. JTIC has learned that the explosive content of the devices was a rare form of plastic explosive nicknamed 'datasheet'. When flattened into thin leaves and disguised as pages of a book, this form of explosive is completely undetectable by X-ray machines and is difficult to identify even with a trained eye.
Nearly $1-billion taken from Iraq bank still missing
AP via The Globe and Mail -- May 6
Washington — Treasure Department officials say they don't know where roughly $900-million (U.S.) that was removed from Iraq's Central Bank shortly before the United States began bombing Baghdad has been taken.
The New York Times reported that Saddam Hussein ordered the money be taken from the Central Bank and sent his son Qusai to grab the cash in the middle of the night.
A U.S. Army Special Forces officer, Colonel Ted Seel, said intelligence indicated that a convoy of tractor trailers crossed the border into Syria, but that the contents of the trucks was unknown, the Times report said.
Lebanese Army Already Deployed in South: UN
Deutsche Presse-Agentur • Reuters
Arab News -- May
BEIRUT, 7 May 2003 — A United Nations spokesman based in southern Lebanon said yesterday the Lebanese Army was effectively deployed in the region. “As far as I am concerned, (the army) is already deployed in south Lebanon,” said UN Interim Forces in Southern Lebanon spokesman Timor Goksel.
He said the Hezbollah resistance group had contributed to the relatively calm situation in southern Lebanon over the past few months.
[Another angle on the previous story.
The original arrests were in September, and the convictions came two
days after Powell's visit.]
Lebanon convicts Australian over "terror" links
Reuters -- May 6
BEIRUT - A Lebanese military court has jailed four men including an Australian for three years on "terror" charges after they were arrested on suspicion of links to the al Qaeda network, judicial sources said on Tuesday.
The sources said the men were convicted on Monday of forming a "terrorist group" to carry out criminal acts and undermine state authority.
Mohamed Ramez Sultan, an Australian-Lebanese dual national, had denied to the court he had any links to Osama bin Laden's militant Islamic network, although Lebanese prosecutors said he had admitted belonging to al Qaeda during questioning.
Al-Qaida suspects convicted in Lebanon
UPI -- May 6
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- A Lebanese military court has handed down prison sentences of hard labor to eight people convicted of trying to form an al-Qaida cell in the country, judicial sources said Tuesday.
The ruling marked the first time Lebanese authorities have confirmed any attempt by al-Qaida to infiltrate Lebanon.
[An analysis of Powell's interaction with Syria.]
Powell and Syria
Beirut Calling -- May 5
A spot analysis of Colin Powell's visit to Syria and Lebanon seems in order. Officially, Powell came with a list of items for the Syrians that included putting an end to their support for Palestinian groups the Bush administration considers terrorist organizations, ending Hezbollah attacks against Israel in the disputed Shebaa Farms area of southern Lebanon, giving up members of the former Iraqi regime, and ending the development of weapons of mass destruction. Powell went further, saying the Syrians would be judged on their actions, not words. That was the official line.
Unofficially, things were different. Powell came to Syria to essentially tell Bashar Assad, "Look, I'm the best you have now. Scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. Otherwise, those cranks at the Pentagon will have a shot at you." What did Powell mean by having his back scratched? I suspect some relatively cosmetic action on the Palestinian groups that might include closing their Damascus offices, but not expelling their leaders. On Hizbullah, it might mean ensuring the party will cease its attacks against Israel, or make them rare indeed, while also beefing up Lebanese army troops in the border area.
[Weekly middle east press review in Slate. Includes coverage of Powell's trip to Syria.]
Powell Play
Slate -- May 5
By Michael Young
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell kicked off a new phase in post-Iraq-war Middle East diplomacy Saturday when he traveled to Syria and Lebanon to issue a warning and some embedded reassurances. Lebanon's left-wing Al-Safir headlined with the gist of what Powell told the Syrians: "We Want Action, Not Words, and We'll Be Watching Syria."
[Transcript of Powell's press briefing on Saturday morning, prior to his meetings with Assad and Shara.
Lebanon, Hezbollah, Israel, and a little bit of Palestine are included on this US-Syria page. It's nice to see official confirmation that these problems are intertwined. But according to Powell, Bush has a vision for how to untie this Gordian knot.]
Briefing by Powell in Damascus
Arabic News -- May 3
SECRETARY POWELL: Well, good morning everyone, I am very pleased to be back in Damascus and I am looking forward to my conversations this morning with the President of Syria, President Bashar Assad, and with the Foreign Minister, my colleague Foreign Minister Shara. Much has changed since my last visit to Syria. We have entirely a new situation in Iraq, and I think another element that is significant is the appointment of Mr. Abu Mazen as Prime Minister to the Palestinian authority and the presentation of the road map to both parties and to all other interested nations. So we have two dynamics at work: changed strategic situation in Iraq with the elimination of a dictatorial regime and a new opportunity for the people of Iraq to build a country and a government that rests on democratic foundations and the opportunity to move forward with a peace process between the Palestinians and the Israelis.
I will mention to the President in no uncertain terms that even though the Roadmap relates principally to the Palestinians and the Israelis, the United States sees this as part of a comprehensive settlement that must be achieved that would include the interests of Syria and Lebanon, as well. That is part of the President's vision.
[An interview with Moshe Ya'alon, the chief of staff of the IDF, includes some comments on US-Syrian-Israeli relations.]
Ya'alon: Main threat to Abu Mazen from Arafat, not Hamas
Ha'aretz -- May 6
By Amos Harel
Lieutenant General Moshe Ya'alon, the chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, sees the recent developments in the Palestinian Authority as "an authentic internal development, and the battle has not yet been decided." Ya'alon points to PA Chairman Yasser Arafat, and not the Islamist extremists, as the greatest threat to the new government of Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), who was appointed last month as the PA's first prime minister.
[snip]
"The Syrians meet all the American criteria for membership in the axis of evil," he said. "This is an irresponsible regime that has chemical weapons and employs terrorism. There is no doubt that the Syrians are under pressure as a result of the situation they found themselves in after the American attack on Iraq, as well as their behavior during the attack: They allowed terrorists to enter Iraq from their territory and transferred antitank missiles and night vision equipment to Iraq. There are also serious suspicions that Syria helped Iraq to hide some of its forbidden capabilities. Syria is currently directly in America's sights because of its behavior."
Military Intelligence depicts Syria as a balloon that is rapidly losing air and sinking. To regain altitude, the leadership must jettison all unnecessary baggage. This means handing over all escaped Iraqi officials in its terrority - and later, a series of steps that greatly interest Israel: allowing the Lebanese Army to deploy in the south of the country, dismantling Hezbollah's rocket batteries in south Lebanon and expelling the headquarters of various terrorist organizations from Damascus.
"These headquarters are not public relations offices, as the Syrians claim," said Ya'alon. "This is a ridiculous denial, like their denial of the chemical weapons in their possession. These are command posts that direct terror operations from Lebanon and in the Palestinian theater, finance, push, encourage and set policy.
"The Syrians understand that they are now being asked to pay, but so far we are only hearing words. They announced that the offices were closed? So they announced it. I haven't yet noticed [the organizations] ceasing to function - not Hamas, not Islamic Jihad and not the Popular Front [for the Liberation of Palestine]. I also haven't yet seen them disarming Hezbollah."
Ya'alon views the American victory in Iraq as an opportunity for reducing the influence and freedom of action of extremist groups and terrorist organizations throughout the Middle East. Will Syrian President Bashar Assad bow to American pressure? "The determining factor will be the amount of diplomatic and economic pressure. One cannot speak of Assad's decisions as irrational, but there are concerns about his maturity and responsibility. Anyone who, during the second week of the Iraqi war, decides to send a convoy of arms to Iraq raises questions about his abilities.
"What is worrying is that Assad makes decisions on the basis of Al Jazeera [the Arab satellite television station] - and that is likely to be a basis for erroneous decisions. We have been in this situation before [with Assad's father], in the tension between Israel and Syria in the summer of 1996."
Hezbollah fire on Israeli warplanes over south Lebanon
AFP via Space Daily -- May 5
RACHAYA, Lebanon -
Lebanon's Shiite fundamentalist group Hezbollah said its militia fired Monday on Israeli warplanes violating Lebanese airspace over the south of the country, police and Hezbollah sources said.
[An analysis of the neocon influence on US policy towards Syria and Iran.]
The Two-Line Struggle at the Top
Phase Two: Syria and Iran
CounterPunch -- May 5
by GARY LEUPP
For some time now, here in the USA, it's been apparent that there's a power struggle, perhaps what you can call a "two-line struggle" between Colin Powell's State Department and Donald Rumsfeld's Defense Department. (Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has referred to this as the "split personality" of the Bush Administration.) The former seems dominated by professional diplomats who find it in U.S. interest to maintain friendly ties with the world in general. The latter is dominated by the neocons, whose project for a New American Century includes (among other ambitious goals) plans for regime change in Iraq, Syria and Iran, change plans that the world tends to oppose and fear since they mean U.S. hegemony throughout Southwest Asia.
[Analysis of potential Syrian responses to Powell's "suggestions".]
Syria waffles on militant groups despite US pressure
Christian Science Monitor -- May 6
The US demanded this weekend that Syria shut down militant offices.
By Nicholas Blanford
BEIRUT, LEBANON – Syria is pondering its next moves after being told by the United States that it must adapt to the new realities in the Middle East following the Iraq war or face "consequences."
Analysts expect the Syrian regime to agree to some US demands - such as closing the offices of radical Palestinian groups in Damascus, and not interfering in Iraq. But with nothing concrete being offered in return, other demands will be difficult for Damascus to fulfill, such as dismantling Lebanon's Hizbullah organization.
[Talk about talks, triggered by Lantos (D-CA) visit to Syria and Israel. Background on rebuffed attempt to resume talks prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom. Comments from dovish and hawkish politicians in Israel.]
Israel for unconditional talks with Syria
UPI -- May 5
By Joshua Brilliant
TEL AVIV, Israel -- Israeli Minister Without Portfolio Meir Sheetrit Monday told parliament his country was ready for unconditional talks with Syria, faced with reports of the Arab country's readiness to resume peace talks with Israel.
Israel is ready for "bona fide negotiations, without prior conditions," he said.
Sheetrit addressed the issue exactly a week after U.S. Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., told Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that Syrian President Bashar Assad wanted to resume talks.
Monday the Israeli Maariv newspaper reported that Sharon had rejected an earlier Syrian attempt, made before the war in Iraq, to resume negotiations. An Israeli diplomatic source said the government considered that initiative to be "not serious."
Sheetrit told the legislators that Sharon was ready for negotiations "any place, any time, without prior conditions."
Is Bush a Neoconservative?
The American Conservative -- May 5
by Pat Buchanan
Is George W. Bush a neoconservative? Has he, too, decided that we must, after taking down Saddam, destroy six or seven more Arab and Islamic regimes, “democratize” the Mideast, and impose a Pax Americana from Tripoli to Tora Bora?
Is Syria next on the U.S. “hit list” for “regime change”?
My sense: George W. is more his father’s son than a neocon. But we are going to find out soon. For not only have Richard Perle and ex-CIA-Director James Woolsey begun to breathe fire at Syria, so, too, have Secretary Rumsfeld and President Bush himself.
via tom moody
Syria to U.S.: 'Press Israel to give up all 1967 war gains'
Reuters via Ha'aretz -- May 5
Syria on Sunday, responding to a call by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell to cooperate, said Arabs had given their all for peace and Washington must now push Israel to give up the land it seized in a 1967 Middle East war.
"Peace...as Mr. Powell knows, cannot be achieved without obliging Israel to fulfil international resolutions" and to withdraw to frontiers before the Middle East war in June 1967, the state-run radio, a government mouthpiece, said Sunday.
[Transcript of CBS interview of Powell.]
Transcript: Powell Calls Syria's Anti-Terrorist "Performance" Key
US Department of State -- May 4
In a May 4 interview on CBS's Face the Nation, Secretary of State
Colin Powell said it was "significant" that Syria reportedly will
close offices being used by terrorists in their country and restrict
their activities in other ways.
[Transcript of NBC interview of Powell.]
Transcript: Powell Says U.S. Interested in Comprehensive Mideast Settlement
US Department of State -- May 4
(On NBC, secretary discusses Syria, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Cuba)
Given the new situation in the Middle East, Secretary of State Colin
Powell said on NBC's [Meet the Press] May 4, the United States will be
looking for action by Syria on a number of issues, and is interested
in a comprehensive Middle East settlement that takes into account the
interests of Syria and Lebanon, as well as those of Israel and the
Palestinians.
[Transcript of ABC interview of Powell.]
Transcript: Powell Says U.S. Watching Syria's Anti-Terrorist Actions
US Department of State -- May 4
In a May 4 interview on ABC's This Week, Secretary of State Colin
Powell said the United States will "be watching" to see whether or not
Syria carries out its promises to shut down terrorist offices
operating in its country and restrict the activities of terrorists in
other ways.
[More on Powell's Sunday talk show circuit. Offers carrot and stick approach.]
Praising Syria's President, Powell Also Hints at Sanctions
New York Times -- May 4
By STEVEN R. WEISMAN
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Colin L. Powell labeled as "significant" today the promises he received from President Bashar al-Assad of Syria to shut down the offices of militant groups in that nation, but he said the United States would carefully scrutinize whether Mr. Assad would back up his words with actions in the coming weeks and months.
Speaking on a round of Sunday television interview shows the day after returning from the Middle East, Mr. Powell also hinted that the United States would be prepared to consider political and economic sanctions against Syria if no action was forthcoming, while positive steps could lead to economic benefits for Syria.
Lebanon nixes U.S. call to remove Hezbollah from border area
The Associated Press via Ha'aretz -- May 4
BEIRUT - Lebanon's president rebuffed U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's call to end Hezbollah's military presence in the country's south and replace it with Lebanese forces, a newspaper reported Sunday.
Emile Lahoud told Powell, who visited Beirut on Saturday, that Hezbollah is a "legal political party," whose guerrilla war helped end Israel's 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon, a leading independent daily newspaper, An-Nahar, reported.
Syrian Reaction to Powell Visit Mixed
Voice Of America -- May 4
Greg LaMotte
Cairo - There is a mixed response from Syrian media to Secretary of State Colin Powell's visit Saturday to Damascus. While some view the visit as beneficial, others say the United States needs to drop its demand that Syria close offices of Palestinian groups the United States views as terrorist organizations.
The moderate Syrian Christian newspaper Al-Anwar said Mr. Powell, through discussion, received a Syrian pledge to cooperate in a regional peace process.
But Syria's ruling Baath party newspaper An-Nahar said Mr. Powell's call for Syria to close the offices of radical groups, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, violated the Palestinians' right to plead their case to the international community. Both groups have boasted of carrying out suicide attacks in Israel.
Lebanon clash
Sun Network (India) -- May 4
Beirut - Anti-Syrian demonstrators clashed with Lebanese security forces near the Foreign Ministry in Beirut. Several hundred protestors called for freedom and independence from what they said was the Syrian occupation of their country. They urged U S Secretary of State Colin Powell, who is currently in Lebanon, to ask the Syrians to pull out of their country.
Syria maintains thousands of troops in Lebanon … something the right-wing Christians oppose. The US wants both Lebanon and Syria to cut off support to militants in the region, including the Hezobllah. The protestors carried pictures of Genral Michel Aoun, a former Lebanese army commander who lives in exile in France and urged supporters to continue protesting the presence of Syrian troops in Lebanon. The demonstrators then broke through two security barricades and headed to the offices of opposition TV and radio station which were closed by authorities last year. They clashed with security forces, who used batons and rifle butts to break up the protest in the Ashrafieh neighbourhood in Beirut.
Hizbollah, Hamas Brush Off Powell's Syria Demands
Reuters -- May 4
By Joseph Logan
BEIRUT - Lebanon's Hizbollah guerrillas said on Sunday they were confident Lebanon and Syria would not bow to U.S. demands to rein them in and vowed to keep up armed resistance to Israel.
The militant Palestinian group Hamas, whose Damascus office Washington demands Syria close to get in line with U.S. plans for the Middle East after the Iraq war, also shrugged off U.S. pressure and said its fight with Israel would continue.
"I doubt anyone would answer their call, for as long as there is (Israeli) occupation, no one can even propose disarming the resistance," Sheikh Hassan Izzedine, a senior official of Syrian and Iranian-backed Hizbollah, told Reuters.
"We are not worried a bit about the future and we consider ourselves people with a just cause and we reject any threat."
Since helping drive Israel from south Lebanon in 2000 after a 22-year-occupation, Hizbollah has periodically clashed with Israeli troops in a disputed border zone that Lebanon and Syria claim is Lebanese, but which the United Nations sees as Syrian land occupied by Israel.
Lebanon has resisted pressure to fully deploy its army in the area, and Hizbollah officials on Sunday echoed the Lebanese government's argument that doing so would be tantamount to guaranteeing the Jewish state's security.
"We have to distinguish between sending the army to the border...and the army being protection for Israel, defending the Zionist entity and being a policeman for Israel in the region," Hussein Khalil, an aide to Hizbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, told Hizbollah's TV station.
[Oops, this story has changed slightly since I linked it.]
Militant groups shrug off Powell
BBC -- May 4
Militant Palestinian groups have shrugged off US pressure on Syria and Lebanon to stop supporting them, saying it will have no impact.
"This is just talk, it's a storm in a cup because we are merely media offices," Abu Jihad Talaat of Islamic Jihad told Reuters news agency.
Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official speaking from Lebanon, said: "The Americans know well that our presence is part of the Palestinian presence in Syria and Lebanon and that it's not voluntary.
"It is forced, because of the occupation of our land and the expulsion of Palestinians (at the creation of Israel)."
And Marwan Abou Sami, of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said the groups had not been officially told to move their offices.
Israeli officials expressed doubts that Syria would crack down on militant groups.
One foreign ministry spokesman told AFP news agency: It's a good step by the United States to try to put an end to this. The future will tell but I have my doubts."
{Powell did the rounds of the Sunday talk shows. Here are some of his comments from Meet the Press.]
Powell: Syria knows what U.S. expects
CNN -- May 4
WASHINGTON -- Syrian President Bashar Assad "has no illusions" that the United States expects him to curb the activities of terrorist organizations in his country or face the consequences, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday.
[More on Powell's visit to Syria and Lebanon.]
Analysis / No more Mr. Nice Guys
Ha'aretz -- May 4
By Zvi Bar'el
In an unorthodox move that enraged Syria and Lebanon, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell held a press conference even before meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad and Lebanese President Emile Lahoud. Powell was making the point that if Syria is inviting him for "dialog," as Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Al-Shara put it, Syria had better be informed publicly of the rules of this dialog and of who exactly it is who's setting them.
[Analysis of Hezbollah's threat to Israel, and likely outcome of US pressure on Syria and Lebanon.]
Analysis / Hezbollah's outposts won't be touched
Ha'aretz -- May 4
By Ze'ev Schiff
The Lebanese Army's entry into South Lebanon would be an important step, one that Damascus and Beirut have postponed repeatedly since Israel withdrew from the area in May 2000. The real question, however, is whether it will mean the evacuation of Hezbollah outposts along the Lebanese-Israeli border - and the information available to date indicates that neither Hezbollah nor Syria has any such intention.
All the signs indicate that the Lebanese Army will merely deploy on a few main roads in South Lebanon and in a few large towns where Hezbollah does not maintain a fighting force. It will apparently not deploy along the border, where Hezbollah is.
As for the Palestinian terrorist groups headquartered in Damascus, such as Islamic Jihad and Hamas, Syria continues to insist that these are merely public relations offices. Yet many orders for terrorist attacks emanate from these offices. When Damascus came under pressure to close these offices in the past, it usually kicked the leaders out of the city for a while and then gradually allowed the offices to be reopened. Israel is familiar with this trick.
Today, Jerusalem's approach is that if orders for a terror attack in Israel once again come from an office in Damascus, Israel will not overlook it. If security coordination between Israel and the new Palestinian government headed by Abu Mazen proves effective, and efforts to blow up the truce come from Damascus, Washington will surely understand an aggressive Israeli response.
CIA: Syria Harboring More Than 15 Million Known Arabs
The Onion -- April 30
LANGLEY, VA—In an alarming report released Monday by the Central Intelligence Agency, Syria may be harboring upwards of 15 million known Arabs within its borders.
via The Electronic Intifada
Syria shows no sign of ejecting terrorists
The Daily Telegraph -- May 4
Damian McElroy in Damascus reports that Colin Powell's demands that extremists be driven out of the Syrian capital are being ignored
Backgammon games at the doorway and a steady stream of fresh, sweet coffee from the scullery kept the Damascus office of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine busy yesterday, even as the US secretary of State, Colin Powell, claimed that Syria has begun forcing groups the Bush administration considers terrorist organizations to close down.
[Powell in Beirut.]
Powell Denounces Hezbollah In Lebanon
IslamOnline -- May 3
BEIRUT, May 3 (Islamonline.net & News Agencies) - U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell denounced "anti-Israeli" groups Saturday, May 3, and called for the Lebanese army to end Hezbollah's presence on the Israeli border.
Powell who left Lebanon after a whistle stop, has met, before heading back to Washington his Lebanese counterpart Jean Obeid and held talks with Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri and the Lebanese President Emile Lahoud who said that neither Lebanon nor Syria will make concessions to the United States.
"Lebanon and Syria are determined not to bend to any demand that does not satisfy the peoples of the two countries and assure their vital interests" Lahoud was quoted as saying, AFP reported.
If Washington wants to resort to "applying the 'logic of force' then the visit of Powell is pointless, because threats do not need visits and can be communicated directly by telephone." Yet Lebanon is "ready for dialogue on the basis of the 'logic of law'" Lahoud added.
["WMD are bad, m'kay."]
Powell Rebuffs Syrian U.N. Move for WMD-Free Mideast
IslamOnline -- May 3
DAMASCUS (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Coming with clear-cut and strict "demands" that permit no room for compromise, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell dismissed Saturday, May 3, a Syrian U.N. proposal to make the Middle East a zone free of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).
Speaking to reporters before talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Powell signaled that Washington regarded the proposal as "political" and would not support it.
"It has always been a United States goal that conditions should be created in this part of the world where no nation would have a need for weapons of mass destruction," he said.
"I am not supportive at the moment of a particular declaration that might be put forward for political purposes or to highlight the issue," Powell said.
"It remains an overall U.S. objective that we would like to see the region free from weapons of mass destruction," he added.
[Opinion piece from Beirut on the Lebanese-Syrian relationship, and the effect of US pressure.]
How will Syria leave Lebanon?
The Daily Star -- May 3
by Michael Young
As Tom Lantos showed last Saturday, US congressmen are confident enough these days to threaten the Syrians in their capital, while also insisting that they pull their soldiers out of Lebanon.
Powell Says Syria Is Taking Action on Terror Groups
The New York Times -- May 3
By DANIEL J. WAKIN
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, opening a new phase of direct American diplomacy in the Middle East, met today with President Bashar al-Assad and said afterward that Syria had begun closing the offices of at least some militant groups in Damascus as urged by the United States.
Although Mr. Powell gave no details and Syria provided no immediate confirmation, a senior State Department official said that Syria had shut down the offices of three organizations that the United states considers terrorist. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, identified them as Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Powell to Detail Concerns to Syria
At Meeting Intended to Ease Tensions, Secretary to Seek 'Specific Action'
Washington Post -- May 2
By Glenn Kessler
DAMASCUS, Syria -- Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said tonight he plans to tell Syrian President Bashar Assad that the United States expects to see "specific action and performance" on a long list of concerns, including ending Syria's support for groups the United States has labeled as terrorist.
[Rapid denial by the White House to the previous UPI story.]
Rice actions on Syria disputed
UPI --- May 2
By Richard Sale
UPI Terrorism Correspondent
From the Washington Politics & Policy Desk
Published 5/2/2003 7:54 PM
WASHINGTON, May 2 (UPI) -- Anna Perez, White House communications counselor, Friday sharply contested a United Press International report that national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and political adviser Karl Rove shut down a Pentagon plan to expand the Iraqi ground war to Syria in closing days of combat.
"That never happened," she said. "It is a complete fabrication."
[A very interesting article on the internal workings of the White House relative to the Syria question. See the rapid and detailed denial from the White House above.
Based on my reading of the press over that last few weeks, I consider this story to be at least plausible. A wave of anti-Syria rhetoric was rising among hawks within both the Israeli and US administrations. This wave suddenly broke.
In the face of the denial, there are a couple of questions that come to mind.
Does this story accurately capture the moment at which the momentum was lost? Does this story accurately reflect the players and motives in the decision making process?
In sharp contrast with my normal practice, I am quoting the entirety of a long article. I can find this version of the article in only one place, and don't want it to disappear into a web hole.
Update 5 minutes later: The original story seems to have vanished from the Washington Times site, and has been replaced by the denial story linked above.]
Rice blocked plan for raids on Syria
UPI via Washington Times -- May 2
By Richard Sale
UPI Terrorism Correspondent
WASHINGTON, May 2 (UPI) -- Key White House advisers, ignoring pressure from Pentagon hawks and senior Israeli officials, abruptly shut down proposed U.S. plans to expand the Iraqi ground war to Syria in the closing days of combat, administration officials have told United Press International.
The U.S. strikes on Syria would have taken the form of brief across-the-border forays under "hot pursuit" rules of engagement, these sources said.
Contingency plans for such raids were being drawn up by Doug Feith, undersecretary of defense for policy, after the approval of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, these sources said on condition of anonymity.
But the stern refusal to expand U.S. military actions in Iraq to another country came from national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, backed by the president's chief domestic adviser, Karl Rove, and Secretary of State Colin Powell, according to the sources.
One proponent of the plans disagreed: "I saw no reason why we shouldn't have gone in. Powell wanted to return to regular bilateral relations with states in the area, but the balance of power (in the region) had changed, and we had the troops and we had the momentum.
"Rice's message was quite succinct: There will be no further military adventures during the remainder of the president's first term," one senior administration official said.
Another source with close knowledge of the White House meetings said: "The hawks didn't understand the emphasis had all changed: Everything was focused, not on the war any more, but on the president's re-election."
This official added that Rove had handled the elections of 2002 on the basis that "the American public knew the economy was a disaster, but the president asked them to put the war on terror first, and to vote Republican. And the public voted Republican. We think he felt any movement into Syria was pushing his luck."
Government spokesmen did not return calls from UPI seeking comment.
The hawks proposed punitive raids because Syria and the United States already were bristling at each other, and the war simply took an unfortunate series of circumstances and brought them to a point of crisis, administration sources said.
In spite of Syria's heightened cooperation in the war on terror, with Syria giving the United States much useful information about al-Qaida, it was still supporting Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in the war.
In an April 13 Washington Post report, Powell issued a harsh warning to Syria against giving safe haven to Iraqi officials fleeing Baghdad. At a Pentagon press conference, Rumsfeld charged, "We are getting scraps of intelligence saying that Syria has been cooperating in facilitating the move (of senior members of Saddam Hussein's regime) from Iraq to Syria."
He warned that arms and supplies were moving into Iraq from Syria as well. Syria replied strongly that such charges were "baseless."
In an interview with The Washington Times, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was quoted as saying: "Syria is shipping killers into Iraq to kill Americans."
There was some truth to this, say serving and former U.S. intelligence officials.
Former senior CIA officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told UPI that U.S. combat forces in Iraq detained at least 700 Lebanon-based Hezbollah fighters who came in buses over the Syrian border to fight against the U.S. coalition.
In one incident, a bus filled with Lebanese Hezbollah militants stopped in Iraq included two dozen Chechen terrorists, a very former senior agency official said.
He added that another 100 members of Hezbollah are being detained at a camp at Tanaa in Iraq. After stern U.S. warnings, Syria tightened up scrutiny at checkpoints, but more Hezbollah and jihadis "simply went over the border" with weapons and explosives, he said.
"We were seeing some very disturbing signs of plans for anti-U.S. activity" on the part of the Hezbollah, another administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
(Naim Qassem, Hezbollah's deputy secretary general, told UPI's Claude Salhani in an interview in Beiurt last week, "We are not a threat to anyone." Qassem said that although now he felt Hezbollah was stronger politically and militarily than ever, it was not to attack anyone, "but only to defend ourselves.")
The hawks also saw Syria as the only remaining military threat to Israel.
Former CIA Middle East expert Bob Baer told UPI that Syria possesses "a chemical arsenal that is much more lethal than anything Saddam has," and explained that "in Israeli strategic thought, the most dangerous threat is the geographically closest" -- which would mean Syria.
According to an April 18 report in Middle East International, Israeli intelligence chief Gen. Rossi Kupperwasser told a Knesset committee, "It is possible that Iraq has transferred missiles and weapons of mass destruction into Syria."
UPI previously reported that U.S. intelligence agencies believe that rogue elements of Syria's ruling elite have accepted millions of dollars in bribes in return for providing a safe haven for some of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, according to U.S. administration officials, both former and serving.
Chemical and biological weapons were taken by truck to a Syrian munitions compound near a military base near Khan Abu Shamet, about 50 miles northeast of Damascus, these officials told UPI. The chief suspects in the operation are Bushra Assad, the sister of Syrian President Bashar Assad, and her husband, Gen. Assaf Chawkat, No. 2 in Syria's military intelligence organization, the Mukhabarat.
The latest Pentagon press for action against Damascus was bolstered by the visit of Israeli National Security Adviser Efrian Halevy, who visited Washington on April 12-14, invited by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, according to Israeli Embassy officials.
According to a Haaretz report of April 13, Halevy and another senior aide to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Dov Weisglass, were visiting Washington to "suggest that the United States take care of Iran and Syria because of their support for terror and pursuit of weapons of mass destruction."
The report added: "Israel will point out the support of Syria and Iran for Hezbollah."
The meeting with Halevy took place in the president's conference room with only top NSC officials and White House advisers in attendance, administration sources said.
In response to Halevy's entreaties for action, Rice repeated her assertion of no more military adventures for the rest of Bush's first term, according to sources with knowledge of the meeting. They said Rumsfeld objected, and, at one point, turned to Rove and asked his opinion. Rove said the president agreed with Rice, and the meeting came to an end.
On April 15, the Washington Post quoted Rice as saying of Syria, "The president has made clear that every problem in the Middle East cannot be dealt with in the same way."
[Background on Hezbollah, including South American connection.]
Operation Syria
Hezbollah should be on Powell’s agenda
National Review Online -- May 2
By Rachel Ehrenfeld
hen Secretary of State Colin Powell arrives in Syria on Saturday, he will no doubt raise the issue of Hezbollah with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. The Syrians claim that they have no control over Hezbollah. Besides, Damascus will argue, Hezbollah's terrorist activities are aimed only against Israel, and therefore are justifiable. But Secretary Powell should recall the recent statement of Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, made in the run-up to the U.S.-led war in Iraq: "In the past, when the Marines were in Beirut, we screamed 'Death to America!' Today, when the region is being filled with hundreds of thousands of American soldiers, 'Death to America!' was, is, and will stay our slogan."
[Being a disinterested arbiter is out of fashion.]
US has asked Syria to ‘dismantle’ Hezbollah: Rice
Middle East Online -- May 2
JERUSALEM - The United States has demanded that Syria "dismantle" the militant Lebanese Shiite Muslim movement Hezbollah, US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice was quoted as saying in an Israeli newspaper Friday.
"At every opportunity, we have asked Syria to stop supporting terrorism, dismantle Hezbollah, close the headquarters of terrorist groups in Damascus and end the threat posed to Israel from rockets in south Lebanon," Rice said, in remarks published in Hebrew in the Yediot Aharonot daily.
Rice was referring to the positions in south Lebanon held by the Iranian and Syrian-backed Hezbollah, which led the resistance to Israel's 22-year occupation of the area which ended in May 2000.
Aside from frequent violations of Lebanon's airspace by Israeli warplanes, which draw ineffective anti-aircraft fire from Hezbollah, the Lebanon-Israel border has been largely quiet since the Israeli pullout.
Rice also pressed Israel to "react in a positive way to the changes in the Palestinian leadership," referring to the new reformist government of prime minister Mahmoud Abbas that began work on Wednesday.
"Israel must improve the humanitarian situation and restore freedom of movement to the Palestinians," she said.
But Rice assured Israel of continued backing from its key ally. "The United States has proved that it is a true friend on whom Israel can rely, and this is particularly the case with President Bush."
[An analysis of recent interaction between the US and Syria.]
Assailed by US rhetoric, Syria circles its wagons
The Christian Science Monitor -- May 2
By Nicholas Blanford
DAMASCUS, SYRIA – Secretary of State Colin Powell arrives here tomorrow for crucial talks during which he is expected to pressure the Syrian government to drop its support for militant anti-Israel groups and abandon its alleged pursuit of weapons of mass destruction.
But the Syrians, stung by a recent barrage of criticism from Washington, are reluctant to yield to what they see as uncompromising American diktats.
When Washington criticized Damascus midway through the war, Syria reacted defensively, denying the charges outright.
It apparently took the personal intervention of Jacques Chirac, the French president, who has close ties toAssad, to persuade Damascus to take Washington's threats seriously. The border with Iraq was closed and Iraqi refugees turned away.
"The Syrians are rattled by what happened in Iraq and the pressure from the Americans... but they cannot be seen caving in to US demands," says a diplomat.
Syrians are still fuming over a visit last weekend to Damascus by Tom Lantos, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives' International Relations Committee and a longtime critic of Syria.
Mr. Lantos publicly chastised the Syrian government, declaring it had made a "historic mistake" in supporting Iraq, and saying that "the time is long overdue to correct the course of Syrian policy."
He delivered to Assad a list of conditions that Damascus should fulfill "if Syria is to forge a new relationship with the United States." Syrians regarded Lantos's demands as the height of American arrogance and bad manners.
[Analysis and opinion on the value of Syrian economic and political reform in the face of US pressure.]
What Must Syria Do To Defend Itself?
Dar al hayat (Lebanon) -- May 2
Patrick Seale
Syria must now reform under external pressure. Respect for the rule of law, the granting of political and economic freedoms, responsible government and greater accountability - these must surely be Syria's best defense lines at this critical time. President Bashar al-Assad came to power promising reform. He now deserves all possible support as he steers Syria through the dangers ahead.
[Mobilize your base.]
Poll: Some would support attack on Syria
UPI -- May 1
By Lou Marano
WASHINGTON -- A surprisingly high percentage of Republicans polled would favor a military attack on Syria if President Bush believes it has been trying to make chemical or biological weapons, supporting terrorism, and giving sanctuary to Iraqi leaders.
Fully 53 percent of those who identified themselves as Republicans among 2,179 adults the Harris Poll surveyed online nationwide between April 17 and April 23 responded to this question in the affirmative. Harris Interactive said it used the same methods to forecast the 2000 elections with great accuracy, and it is "very confident" that the data are representative of the U.S. population. The results were released Thursday.
[Another article on the Druze/IDF kidnap plan.]
Four Druze accused of plotting to kidnap IDF soldier
Ha'aretz -- April 28
By Uri Ash
Charges were filed Monday morning against four Druze men from the Golan Heights village of Bukata accused of plotting to kidnap an Israel Defense Forces soldier and then to transfer him to Hezbollah in Syria to serve as a bargaining chip for the release of Palestinian prisoners.
[Pay site, just the abstract is free.]
Druse village shocked by terror allegations against four residents
Jerusalem Post April 30
DAVID RUDGE
Jerusalem -- The arrest of four Golan Heights [Druse] men on suspicion of coordinating with Hamas officials in Gaza to kidnap an IDF soldier and hand him over to Hizbullah came as a surprise to many, especially residents of their village.
"I know the feelings of the residents of Bukata and of all the Druse villages on the Golan Heights, the religious leaders and ...
[Powell's comments in Spain on Israel/Palestine and Syria.]
Powell: Don't Derail Mideast Peace Plans
The Associated Press via New York Times -- May 1
MADRID -- Secretary of State Colin Powell warned Israel and the Palestinian Authority on Thursday against letting violence ``immediately contaminate the road map'' toward peace that President Bush has offered.
Powell spoke after meeting with Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio in Madrid -- the place where the ``road map'' first began taking shape a year ago between the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia.
Later Thursday, Powell was to have dinner with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar. He then heads to Albania on Friday and then to Syria, where he will meet with the foreign minister and President Bashar Assad. Those talks are a prelude to another Mideast journey by Powell next week for talks with Abbas and Sharon. [What about Lebanon? Lebanese papers have expressed concern that the 3 hour stop-over in Beirut might be dropped from the itinerary.]
In Syria, Powell said he intends to take up U.S. allegations that Syria supports terrorism, the ``changed strategic situation'' in the Middle East now that Saddam Hussein is gone from power, and the movement of wanted Iraqi leaders across the border into Syria after war was under way in Iraq.
The fact that Syria now has a different Iraq as a neighbor, plus the road map and the new Palestinian leadership, ``is a new strategic dynamic that they should consider,'' Powell said. He said he expects his sessions in Syria to be ``rather full and candid,'' but he is not seeking any specific outcome.
``It's an opportunity to review where we are,'' Powell said.
[Signs of conciliation from Syria. Analysis of issues expected to be covered in Powell's meeting.]
U.S. - Syrian Ties Face Critical Moment
The Associated Press via The New York Times -- May 1
DAMASCUS, Syria -- In the days before Secretary of State Colin Powell's visit to Damascus, Syria has given indications it wants to avoid a collision course with Washington.
It has sealed its border with Iraq. It has expelled more than 30 Iraqis, many from Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit. It coordinated with the Americans the departure from Syria of one-time Iraqi intelligence official Farouk Hijazi, who is now in U.S. custody.
And its state-run newspapers are putting a positive spin on Powell's trip, scheduled to begin Friday.
``We hope that Powell's visit would achieve the hoped-for positive results and would be a real start for U.S.-Syrian relations,'' the daily Al-Thawra said Wednesday.
Syria: Powell to be welcomed for dialogue
UPI -- May 1
By Dalal Saoud
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Sharaa said Thursday U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell was being welcomed in Damascus to hold a dialogue to repair damaged ties.
He told reporters in Beirut: "We welcome Mr. Powell in Damascus and he will naturally receive the adequate hospitality. All what we wish to hear from him, he can relay to us in a form of dialogue and explain what is going on in the region on the bases of the declared positions from the United States and Syria."
On Thursday, Sharaa said Syria will be ready to answer U.S. questions "in a spirit that does not derive from a state of enmity or fulfillment of others' demands."
Asked about U.S. demands to disarm Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group, which Syria backs, and cease support for Damascus-based Palestinian militant groups, Sharaa said: "I won't answer any question related to demands because we did not hear these demands and no one asked us these matters."
He said part of the "intimidation campaign" against Syria was being led by media networks that he didn't identify, and Sharaa warned that "we should not bow to that degree about repeated demands being presented by Israel to Washington and then Washington reflecting them in some media."
He said Hezbollah was a Lebanese political party and Lebanese officials were better placed to answer any U.S. queries about it.
But he said: "Attention should be directed to the Israeli occupation in the first degree before it is being directed to those who resist occupation."
Syria-Based Palestinian Group Slams 'Road Map'
Reuters -- May 1
DAMASCUS - A radical Palestinian group based in Syria on Thursday criticized the "road map," the new Middle East peace plan, as being "unbalanced" and said it gave Israel the upper hand.
"The implementation of the plan is based on successive rather than parallel steps by both sides, thus leaving control in the hands of the government of (Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon..." the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) said in a statement.
The DFLP, one of several Palestinian factions that support the 31-month-old uprising for independence as a legitimate form of struggle for freedom, said the terms of the plan would "leave Palestinians under the force of the occupation tanks, arrests and assassinations."
Lebanon rejects French call
IRIB (Iran) -- May 1
Beirut - Lebanon rejected French calls on Wednesday for a complete withdrawal of Syrian forces from its territory, with Foreign Minister Jean Obeid saying it was a matter solely between the two countries.
French Foriegn Minister Dominique De Villepin had called in a phone call to Damascus for Syria to leave Lebanon.
But Obeid told reporters tersely: "Syria's military presence in Lebanon, which France links to an overall solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, only concerns Beirut and Damascus and their mutual interests.
"Their presence is set out in the inter-Lebanese peace agreement of Taif, supported by the United Nations and the Arab League.
It is also a feature of the treaty of fraternity, cooperation and coordination signed between Lebanon and Syria."
[Do the Israelis have to make their demands on the US so obvious? The word for today is "subtlety". Look it up, Ayalon.]
Israeli envoy urges regime change in Syria and Iran
The Guardian -- April 29
Oliver Burkeman in Washington
Israel's ambassador to the US called for "regime change" in Iran and Syria yesterday as players in the Middle East staked out their positions before a crucial Palestinian vote that is expected to trigger publication of the American-backed "road map" to peace.
Removing Saddam Hussein was "not enough", said Daniel Ayalon. But war against Syria and Iran was not the answer, he added, advocating isolating them diplomatically, imposing economic sanctions and using "psychological pressure".
The war in Iraq "has to follow through", he told a conference in Washington of the Anti-Defamation League, an organisation that campaigns against anti-semitism. "We still have great threats of that magnitude coming from Syria, coming from Iran."
[Graham on Syria, Lebanon, Hezbollah.]
Senator criticizes tax and Iraq policies
The Miami Herald (via SJ Merc) -- April 28
BY TYLER BRIDGES
Sen. Bob Graham criticized President George W. Bush for his tax and Iraq policies Sunday, in his first appearance on national television as a presidential candidate.
Graham also criticized Bush saying the United States ought to confront the Syrian government over terrorist groups -- such as Hezbollah -- based in Syria and Syria-controlled northern Lebanon. Graham said those terrorist groups present the greatest threat to Americans.
The Bush administration has been reluctant to challenge Syria overtly, preferring to wage war on Iraq.
''We have virtually abandoned the war on terrorism,'' Graham said. ``We have withdrawn military and intelligence capabilities from Afghanistan, and because of that, al Qaeda has been able to regroup, that we have not taken on the A-team of Hezbollah and the others in Syria and Lebanon, that we have allowed our alliances, which are going to be absolutely critical to winning the war on terrorism, to disintegrate.''
[Anti-Hezbollah editorial.]
Ada'af al Imaan (Hezbollah's Arms)
Dar al hayat (Lebanon) -- April 30
Dawood Al Shirian
The Lebanese people yearn for Hezbollah's disarmament even more than the Americans do. The party's armament remains the main political problem in Lebanon, since the Taif Accords. But the occupation of the South prompted all parties and confessions in the country to overlook this problem. But this does not mean that the party's armament is an intentional Lebanese national policy. The issue is made to appear natural, namely that the resistance's units are not emergency military groups or that they are in barracks, but rather citizens living in their villages. But based on this logic, other confessions and groups would have to be armed, and to protect themselves and their villages, and this would take Lebanon straight back to the era of militias.
[Hezbollah stands its ground.]
Hezbollah: U.S. Demands To Disarm Us "Will Not Be Met With A Positive Response"
Dar al hayat (Lebanon) -- April 29
Walid Choucair
Hussein Al Khalil, Assistant Secretary General of Hezbollah, said that the request the United States made to Lebanon and Syria that the party be disarmed "will not meet a favorable response."
In an interview with Al Hayat, he said: "I will not speak on behalf of Syria and the Lebanese government. But according to our reading of the Lebanese situation, I believe that this demand will not meet a favorable response."
"With regard to Hezbollah," he added, "the U.S. and Israel carried out an aggression against Lebanon in July 1993 under that same pretext. But that aggression failed. And in April 1996, the enemy made another attempt at a larger scale, and mobilized all its supporters around the world, rallying them at the Sharm Al Sheikh summit. But in the end, Hezbollah and Lebanon came out stronger than before. Today, if the enemy repeats the same foolish action, then the party will adopt the same position, and God willing, we will have similar results."
Al Hayat asked Al Khalil about the American demand that Hezbollah withdraw from the frontiers with Israel and that the Lebanese army deploy in the area. Al Khalil answered: "there is nothing in our dictionary called the withdrawal of Hezbollah from the South. Our sons and those of the resistance are the sons of all villages located throughout the South. We are not a foreign military group in barracks. We cannot ask people to leave their villages."
About the deployment of the Lebanese army in the South, he said: "there are two theories in this respect; the first is the demand that the army should be in charge of security in the South, which is already the case since the army is present throughout the area. The second theory calls upon the army to defend Israel. We don't believe the army will defend the Israeli occupation."
[New Lebanese pro-Syria cabinet wins vote of confidence.]
Lebanon cabinet wins parliament confidence
UPI -- April 30
By Dalal Saoud
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- A majority of Lebanon's 128-member Parliament granted the new Cabinet of Prime Minister Rafic Hariri a vote of confidence Wednesday.
Some 85 parliamentarians voted in favor, 14 abstained and 12 voted against the 30-member half-Christian, half-Muslim body. Seventeen deputies did not attend Wednesday's session, which wrapped up two days of deliberations during which deputies criticized the hasty formation of the new Cabinet.
Hariri emphasized the need to join hands to confront "the political and pan-Arab challenges facing the Arab region and Syria."
He told parliamentarians the "delicate internal political conditions and the sensitive circumstances facing the Arab region" accelerated the formation of a new Cabinet on April 17.
The government included 11 newcomers but kept away Christian opponents and the Hezbollah militant group. Most Cabinet members are supporters or sympathizers of Syria, the main power broker in Lebanon.
France urges Syria to pull troops out of Lebanon
Reuters -- April 30
By Tom Heneghan
PARIS, April 30 - France urged Syria on Wednesday to withdraw all its troops from Lebanon, support the "road map" for Middle East peace and pressure radical Arab groups to end their campaigns of violence.
"We must seize this unique chance," he said in what appeared to be the clearest French statement to date of the need to end Syria's troop presence in Lebanon, a country Paris administered under a League of Nations mandate between the two world wars.
"Lebanon needs to return quickly...to full independence and sovereignty. The condition for this is the withdrawal of all foreign troops and the deployment of Lebanese forces on the border with Israel," Villepin said.
"Syria can make a gesture and continue the withdrawal already undertaken," he said, referring to the pullout in February of about 4,000 troops from northern Lebanon, the latest in a series of redeployments and withdrawals that reduced the number of Syrian troops in Lebanon to 16,000-17,000.
Syria poured thousands of troops into neighbouring Lebanon early in the 1975-1990 civil war to save Christian militias from defeat by Muslim, leftist and Palestinian forces. Damascus later turned on them when they sided with arch-foe Israel.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Jean Obeid said the Syrian presence, part of the 1989 Taif accords that helped end the country's civil war, was still needed.
"Lebanon considers this presence necessary, legal and temporary, and will work on this matter on that basis and in that spirit," he said in a statement.
[Sell out Hizbullah, get back the Golan?]
Powell Hopes Syria Will Rethink Its Policies
Reuters -- April 30
WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Colin Powell hopes to dissuade Syria from pursuing of weapons of mass destruction and supporting Hizbollah in south Lebanon in talks with President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday.
Testifying before a Senate subcommittee, Powell said he would make the case that the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq has dramatically changed circumstances in the Middle East and that Damascus should, as a result, rethink a range of policies.
He is expected to make a second trip to the region next week to meet Israelis and Palestinians to push the "road map" Middle East peace plan drafted by the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations.
"If Syria wants to be part of that comprehensive solution, then it has to review the policies it's been following with respect to the support of terrorist activities and the control they have over forces in Lebanon that present a threat to northern Israel," Powell said.
Kawaguchi asks Syria to improve relations with U.S.
Japan Today -- May 1
DAMASCUS — Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi met with Syrian President Bashar Assad on Wednesday and said Japan would welcome efforts by Syria to improve its relation with the United States, Japanese officials said.
Kawaguchi, who is in the Middle East on an eight-day trip, met Assad at his palace in Damascus. She expressed hope that Syria will improve its relationship with the U.S. when Secretary of State Colin Powell visits Syria in early May. (Kyodo News)
U.S. Says Libya, Syria Reduce Support for Terrorism
Reuters -- April 30
By Arshad Mohammed
WASHINGTON - The United States said on Wednesday Syria and Libya reduced their support for "terrorism" they remained on a U.S. list of seven "state sponsors of terrorism" along with Cuba, Iran, Iraq, North Korea and Sudan.