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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Assad goes to the mattresses?
2005-10-14
DEBKAfile Exclusive: Syrian military and security forces are on the highest alert in the mountain strongholds of the ruling Alawi clans east of Latakia. They are braced for a vendetta within the Alawi community of which President Bashar Assad and his supporters are leading members. They fear that at least two clans may reject the official claim that interior minister Ghazi Kenaan died by his own hand Wednesday and seek revenge.
It's time for Syrian Family Feud!
Assad had thought to appoint Kenaan’s successor - most likely a former interior minister Hassan Harabe – without delay. He was deterred by a warning that he could no longer rely on the loyalty of the security and intelligence services ruled by the dead minister.
"Baby Assad dun had da boss wacked!"
This assumes that he ever once trusted the security and intel services.
There has been speculation in Washington and Damascus that the Assad may have made former Lebanon strongman and pillar of his regime the scapegoat should the UN Hariri investigators point the finger at top Syrian circles when their report comes out on Oct. 21.
"Nothing personal, Ghazi. Just business"
DEBKAfile’s Syria observers report that the last high Syrian military alert occurred in 2000 towards the end of Bashar’s father president Hafez Assad term when prime minister Mahmoud Zouaby, a Sunni, was whacked killed himself after he was imprisoned on corruption charges. The only time before that was in 1968 when Syrian military intelligence chief Gen. Abndel Karim al Jundi, an Ismaili, also was whacked committed suicide.
Seems to be a pattern there.
Posted by:Steve

#7  latakia is the biarritz of syria--its where the theiving allawis have their mansions that drug money and official corruption have built--if they have to protect the mountain passes than methinks there are serious problems--w should unleash some subs to create an artificial tsunami and let the survivors swim to monaco
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI   2005-10-14 23:46  

#6  the allawis were parias under the Ottomans, who were Sunnis. Some Sunnis dont even consider the Allawis muslims. They survived in the mountains, like other minorities in the region. Excluded from most other avenues to mobility, they gravitated to the military, where alawis helped other alawis.
Posted by: liberalhawk   2005-10-14 16:06  

#5  
The Alawi sect, which integrates doctrines from other religions -- in particular from Christianity -- arose from a split within the Ismailite sect. The Alawis appear to be descendants of people who lived in this region at the time of Alexander the Great. When Christianity flourished in the Fertile Crescent, the Alawis, isolated in their little communities, clung to their own preIslamic religion. After hundreds of years of Ismaili influence, the Alawis moved closer to Islam. However, contacts with the Byzantines and the Crusaders added Christian elements to the Alawis' new creeds and practices. For example, Alawis celebrate Christmas, Easter, and Epiphany.

Split by sectional rivalries, the Alawis have no single, powerful ruling family, but since independence many individual Alawis have attained power and prestige as military officers. Although they are settled cultivators, Alawis gather into kin groups much like those of pastoral nomads. The four Alawi confederations, each divided into tribes, are Kalbiyah, Khaiyatin, Haddadin, and Matawirah.

Global Security
Posted by: Chuck Simmins   2005-10-14 15:36  

#4  All those suicides . . . must be pining for the Golan Heights.
Posted by: Mike   2005-10-14 15:06  

#3  i wasnt aware of the previous suicides. Perhaps the Syrian high command should consider distributing Prozac? ;)
Posted by: liberalhawk   2005-10-14 14:43  

#2  this could be a good episode in the ME theatre :)
Posted by: Shep UK   2005-10-14 13:58  

#1  Time for heavily salted popcorn?
Posted by: Xbalanke   2005-10-14 13:50  

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