War (of Words) with Syria
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Friday, May 16, 2003
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.