War (of Words) with Syria
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Friday, May 23, 2003
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 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.