21.04.2010, 07:22
Zitat:Israel warns Syria over Hezbollah attacks<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://times.cluster.newsint.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article7101106.ece">http://times.cluster.newsint.co.uk/tol/ ... 101106.ece</a><!-- m -->
Israel has delivered a secret warning to Syrian President Bashar Assad that it will respond to missile attacks from Hezbollah, the militant Lebanese-based Islamist group, by launching immediate retaliation against Syria itself.
In a message, sent earlier this month, Israel made it clear that it now regards Hezbollah as a division of the Syrian army and that reprisals against Syria will be fast and devastating.
It follows the discovery by Israeli intelligence that Syria has recently supplied long-range ballistic missiles and advanced anti-aircraft systems to Hezbollah.
“We’ll return Syria to the Stone Age by crippling its power stations, ports, fuel storage and every bit of strategic infrastructure if Hezbollah dare to launch ballistic missiles against us,” said an Israeli minister, who who was speaking off-the-record, last week.
The warning, which was conveyed to Damascus by a third party, was sent to reinforce an earlier signal by Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli foreign minister. “If a war breaks out the Assad dynasty will lose its power and will cease to reign in Syria,” he said earlier this year.
The Israeli decision to hold Syria directly responsible for Hezbollah’s actions is believed to be the result of intelligence assessments that Beirut has lost control of the Shi’ite organisation, which has become an increasingly powerful force in Lebanon.
[...]
The supply of Scud missiles to Hezbollah is seen as a serious threat by the Israelis. “This is the first time that an internationally known terror organisation has been equipped with ballistic missiles,” said the minister.
Washington and moderate Middle Eastern leaders, including King Abdullah of Jordan, are worried. “We are obviously increasingly concerned about the sophisticated weaponry that is allegedly being transferred,” said Robert Gibbs, the White House spokesman.
Last week Syria’s Foreign Ministry denied that there had been any transfer of Scud missiles. It claimed the allegations were aimed at giving Israel a pretext to attack Syria and avoid making concessions for peace.
But the Israelis remain defiant. “We’ll not hesitate to attack Syria if our national security is in jeopardy,” said the Israeli minister. “Assad knows that, and he’s playing with fire.”
Zitat:Report: Assad due in Egypt to discuss threat of Israeli-Syrian war<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1164295.html">http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1164295.html</a><!-- m -->
Syrian President Bashar Assad was due last night to land in Egypt "within hours," his first visit in four years, several Arab media outlets reported. The urgency of the surprise trip stems from a fear of war between Israel and Syria.
A Syrian commentator noted that Assad, who last week denied that Syria had delivered Scud missiles to Hezbollah, would seek to make clear that this information was false. He believes that the accusations are "an Israeli excuse for warmongering," according to the media reports.