War (of Words) with Syria
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Tuesday, May 20, 2003
[I smell boiler plate in this AFP article. La même 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."