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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Syria, Iran behind Hizbullah flare-up: IDF |
| 2005-11-30 |
| Syria and Iran instigated the latest flare-up by Hizbullah along the northern border to stave off international pressure on Damascus and Tehran, IDF Intelligence Chief Aharon Zeevi Farkash told the Knesset Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee Wednesday. Smart man. He must read Rantburg. Farkash noted that both Syria and Iran have an interest in heating up Israelâs northern border, with Damascus on the spot, as the final report of a United Nations probe into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri is due in December and Tehran narrowly escaping referral to the Security Council over its nuclear activities. âHizbullah planned the latest flare-up in the north. It is a strategic plan. They hoped we would hit civilians in order to fire Katyusha rockets and they prepared themselves for the scenario along the border,â Farkash said. He added that the IDF had intelligence tips about the Shiite groupâs plans and prepared an ambush in the borderline village of Ghajar where a Hizbullah elite unit tried to kidnap soldiers last week. âIn the last confrontation, Hizbullah fired 330 shells at 25 IDF posts along the northern section. It is certainly a plan to kidnap soldiers,â Farkash said. The group will continue to try to kidnap soldiers or Israeli citizens abroad and even display its capabilities by launching an unmanned drone over Israel, he said. Addressing the Iranian issue, Farkash noted that Iran is in a better position to deal with international pressure over its nuclear ambitions, with the International Atomic Energy Agencyâs decision not to refer Tehran to the Security Council and to explore a Russian compromise on the issue. If international diplomacy fails to place the Iranian nuclear file on the discussion table of the Security Council by March, the diplomatic process would have failed, he said. Farkash said the military was concerned over an IAEA report on Iranâs nuclear activities citing connections between the Islamic theocracy and Pakistani nuclear experts. |
| Posted by:Opinionist |
| #1 Interesting comment from Israeli Military Intelligence chief: Why March/05? link: http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/652162.html |
| Posted by: marek 2005-11-30 14:59 |