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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Questions and answers on the Syrian-Israeli talks |
| 2008-06-29 |
| These are the two questions and answers that I found interesting: Who assassinated Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus last February? The car bomb that killed Iran's key covert operative in Hizbullah is still echoing in the Middle East. Suspicion immediately focused on Israel. But on February 27, a London-based newspaper called Al-Quds al-Arabi, with very good sources in Damascus, alleged that several Arab nations had conspired with Mossad to assassinate Mughniyeh. Adding to the speculation are reports that shortly before his death, Mughniyeh was attempting to heal a split within Hizbullah between the group's leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and its former leader, Sheikh Sobhi Tufeili. Tufeili's power base is the Bekaa Valley, which has lost influence in Hizbullah to Shiites from South Lebanon. According to one Arab source, Mughniyeh - traveling under his longtime pseudonym, "Hajj Radwan" - paid a visit shortly before his death to Tufeili's village of Brital, just south of Baalbek. Mughniyeh usually traveled without bodyguards, believing that his protection was the surgical alteration of his features, which prevented even old friends from recognizing "Hajj Radwan." For that reason, the Syrians insisted they weren't at fault. But a sign of tension was Tehran's announcement that a joint commission would investigate the killing, a statement that was promptly denied by Damascus. What about Syria's secret nuclear reactor, which was destroyed by the Israelis on September 6, 2007? Oddly enough, that attack on what CIA analysts called the "Enigma Building" may have helped the peace talks. The Israelis felt that their decisive action helped restore the credibility of their deterrence policy. The Syrians appreciated that Israeli and American silence allowed them time to cover their tracks. Finally, the fact that Assad kept the nuclear effort a secret, and that he managed the post-attack pressures, showed Israelis that he was truly master of his own house, and thus a plausible negotiating partner. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #2 And some think that ancients were dumb because they believed that Earth is flat! |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2008-06-29 09:55 |
| #1 Interesting points, ryuge. Thanks for posting that |
| Posted by: Lumpy Spusoth6394 2008-06-29 09:30 |