Intelligence

Israelis ‘blew apart Syrian nuclear cache’ | Secret raid on Korean shipment

Israelis ‘blew apart Syrian nuclear cache’ - Times Online

IT was just after midnight when the 69th Squadron of Israeli F15Is
crossed the Syrian coast-line. On the ground, Syria’s formidable air
defences went dead. An audacious raid on a Syrian target 50 miles from
the Iraqi border was under way.

At a rendezvous point on the
ground, a Shaldag air force commando team was waiting to direct their
laser beams at the target for the approaching jets. The team had
arrived a day earlier, taking up position near a large underground
depot. Soon the bunkers were in flames.

Ten days after the jets
reached home, their mission was the focus of intense speculation this
weekend amid claims that Israel believed it had destroyed a cache of
nuclear materials from North Korea.

The Israeli government was
not saying. “The security sources and IDF [Israeli Defence Forces]
soldiers are demonstrating unusual courage,” said Ehud Olmert, the
prime minister. “We naturally cannot always show the public our cards.”

The Syrians were also keeping mum. “I cannot reveal the details,”
said Farouk al-Sharaa, the vice-president. “All I can say is the
military and political echelon is looking into a series of responses as
we speak. Results are forthcoming.” The official story that the target
comprised weapons destined for Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese
Shi’ite group, appeared to be crumbling in the face of widespread
scepticism.

Andrew Semmel, a senior US State Department official,
said Syria might have obtained nuclear equipment from “secret
suppliers”, and added that there were a “number of foreign technicians”
in the country.

Asked if they could be North Korean, he replied:
“There are North Korean people there. There’s no question about that.”
He said a network run by AQ Khan, the disgraced creator of Pakistan’s
nuclear weapons, could be involved.

But why would nuclear
material be in Syria? Known to have chemical weapons, was it seeking to
bolster its arsenal with something even more deadly?

Alternatively,
could it be hiding equipment for North Korea, enabling Kim Jong-il to
pretend to be giving up his nuclear programme in exchange for economic
aid? Or was the material bound for Iran, as some authorities in America
suggest?

According to Israeli sources, preparations for the
attack had been going on since late spring, when Meir Dagan, the head
of Mossad, presented Olmert with evidence that Syria was seeking to buy
a nuclear device from North Korea.

The Israeli spy chief apparently feared such a device could eventually be installed on North-Korean-made Scud-C missiles.

“This
was supposed to be a devastating Syrian surprise for Israel,” said an
Israeli source. “We’ve known for a long time that Syria has deadly
chemical warheads on its Scuds, but Israel can’t live with a nuclear
warhead.”

An expert on the Middle East, who has spoken to Israeli
participants in the raid, told yesterday’s Washington Post that the
timing of the raid on September 6 appeared to be linked to the arrival
three days earlier of a ship carrying North Korean material labelled as
cement but suspected of concealing nuclear equipment.

The target
was identified as a northern Syrian facility that purported to be an
agricultural research centre on the Euphrates river. Israel had been
monitoring it for some time, concerned that it was being used to
extract uranium from phosphates.

According to an Israeli air
force source, the Israeli satellite Ofek 7, launched in June, was
diverted from Iran to Syria. It sent out high-quality images of a
northeastern area every 90 minutes, making it easy for air force
specialists to spot the facility.

Early in the summer Ehud Barak,
the defence minister, had given the order to double Israeli forces on
its Golan Heights border with Syria in anticipation of possible
retaliation by Damascus in the event of air strikes.

Sergei
Kirpichenko, the Russian ambassador to Syria, warned President Bashar
al-Assad last month that Israel was planning an attack, but suggested
the target was the Golan Heights.

Israeli military intelligence
sources claim Syrian special forces moved towards the Israeli outpost
of Mount Hermon on the Golan Heights. Tension rose, but nobody knew why.

At
this point, Barak feared events could spiral out of control. The
decision was taken to reduce the number of Israeli troops on the Golan
Heights and tell Damascus the tension was over. Syria relaxed its guard
shortly before the Israeli Defence Forces struck.

Only three
Israeli cabinet ministers are said to have been in the know � Olmert,
Barak and Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister. America was also
consulted. According to Israeli sources, American air force codes were
given to the Israeli air force attaché in Washington to ensure Israel’s
F15Is would not mistakenly attack their US counterparts.

Once the
mission was under way, Israel imposed draconian military censorship and
no news of the operation emerged until Syria complained that Israeli
aircraft had violated its airspace. Syria claimed its air defences had
engaged the planes, forcing them to drop fuel tanks to lighten their
loads as they fled.

But intelligence sources suggested it was a highly successful Israeli raid on nuclear material supplied by North Korea.

Washington
was rife with speculation last week about the precise nature of the
operation. One source said the air strikes were a diversion for a
daring Israeli commando raid, in which nuclear materials were
intercepted en route to Iran and hauled to Israel. Others claimed they
were destroyed in the attack.

There is no doubt, however, that
North Korea is accused of nuclear cooperation with Syria, helped by AQ
Khan’s network. John Bolton, who was undersecretary for arms control at
the State Department, told the United Nations in 2004 the Pakistani
nuclear scientist had “several other” customers besides Iran, Libya and
North Korea.

Some of his evidence came from the CIA, which had
reported to Congress that it viewed “Syrian nuclear intentions with
growing concern”.

“I’ve been worried for some time about North
Korea and Iran outsourcing their nuclear programmes,” Bolton said last
week. Syria, he added, was a member of a “junior axis of evil”, with a
well-established ambition to develop weapons of mass destruction.

The
links between Syria and North Korea date back to the rule of Kim
Il-sung and President Hafez al-Assad in the last century. In recent
months, their sons have quietly ordered an increase in military and
technical cooperation.

Foreign diplomats who follow North Korean
affairs are taking note. There were reports of Syrian passengers on
flights from Beijing to Pyongyang and sightings of Middle Eastern
businessmen from sources who watch the trains from North Korea to China.

On
August 14, Rim Kyong Man, the North Korean foreign trade minister, was
in Syria to sign a protocol on “cooperation in trade and science and
technology”. No details were released, but it caught Israel’s attention.

Syria
possesses between 60 and 120 Scud-C missiles, which it has bought from
North Korea over the past 15 years. Diplomats believe North Korean
engineers have been working on extending their 300-mile range. It means
they can be used in the deserts of northeastern Syria � the area of the
Israeli strike.

The triangular relationship between North Korea,
Syria and Iran continues to perplex intelligence analysts. Syria served
as a conduit for the transport to Iran of an estimated £50m of missile
components and technology sent by sea from North Korea. The same route
may be in use for nuclear equipment.

But North Korea is at a
sensitive stage of negotiations to end its nuclear programme in
exchange for security guarantees and aid, leading some diplomats to
cast doubt on the likelihood that Kim would cross America’s “red line”
forbidding the proliferation of nuclear materials.

Christopher
Hill, the State Department official representing America in the talks,
said on Friday he could not confirm “intelligence-type things”, but the
reports underscored the need “to make sure the North Koreans get out of
the nuclear business”.

By its actions, Israel showed it is not interested in waiting for diplomacy to work where nuclear weapons are at stake.

As
a bonus, the Israelis proved they could penetrate the Syrian air
defence system, which is stronger than the one protecting Iranian
nuclear sites.

This weekend President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran
sent Ali Akbar Mehrabian, his nephew, to Syria to assess the damage.
The new “axis of evil” may have lost one of its spokes.

September 18, 2007 at 08:59 PM in Syria | Permalink | Top of page | Blog Home

Israelis ‘blew apart Syrian nuclear cache’

Israelis ‘blew apart Syrian nuclear cache’ - Times Online

Secret raid on Korean shipment Uzi Mahnaimi in Tel Aviv, Sarah Baxter in Washington and Michael Sheridan IT was just after midnight when the 69th Squadron of Israeli F15Is crossed the Syrian coast-line. On the ground, Syria’s formidable air defences went dead. An audacious raid on a Syrian target 50 miles from the Iraqi border was under way.

At a rendezvous point on the ground, a Shaldag air force commando
team was waiting to direct their laser beams at the target for the
approaching jets. The team had arrived a day earlier, taking up
position near a large underground depot. Soon the bunkers were in
flames.

Ten days after the jets reached home, their mission was
the focus of intense speculation this weekend amid claims that Israel
believed it had destroyed a cache of nuclear materials from North Korea.

The
Israeli government was not saying. “The security sources and IDF
[Israeli Defence Forces] soldiers are demonstrating unusual courage,”
said Ehud Olmert, the prime minister. “We naturally cannot always show
the public our cards.”

The
Syrians were also keeping mum. “I cannot reveal the details,” said
Farouk al-Sharaa, the vice-president. “All I can say is the military
and political echelon is looking into a series of responses as we
speak. Results are forthcoming.” The official story that the target
comprised weapons destined for Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese
Shi’ite group, appeared to be crumbling in the face of widespread
scepticism.

Andrew Semmel, a senior US State Department official,
said Syria might have obtained nuclear equipment from “secret
suppliers”, and added that there were a “number of foreign technicians”
in the country.

Asked if they could be North Korean, he replied:
“There are North Korean people there. There’s no question about that.”
He said a network run by AQ Khan, the disgraced creator of Pakistan’s
nuclear weapons, could be involved.

But why would nuclear
material be in Syria? Known to have chemical weapons, was it seeking to
bolster its arsenal with something even more deadly?

Alternatively,
could it be hiding equipment for North Korea, enabling Kim Jong-il to
pretend to be giving up his nuclear programme in exchange for economic
aid? Or was the material bound for Iran, as some authorities in America
suggest?

According to Israeli sources, preparations for the
attack had been going on since late spring, when Meir Dagan, the head
of Mossad, presented Olmert with evidence that Syria was seeking to buy
a nuclear device from North Korea.

The Israeli spy chief apparently feared such a device could eventually be installed on North-Korean-made Scud-C missiles.

“This
was supposed to be a devastating Syrian surprise for Israel,” said an
Israeli source. “We’ve known for a long time that Syria has deadly
chemical warheads on its Scuds, but Israel can’t live with a nuclear
warhead.”

An expert on the Middle East, who has spoken to Israeli
participants in the raid, told yesterday’s Washington Post that the
timing of the raid on September 6 appeared to be linked to the arrival
three days earlier of a ship carrying North Korean material labelled as
cement but suspected of concealing nuclear equipment.

The target
was identified as a northern Syrian facility that purported to be an
agricultural research centre on the Euphrates river. Israel had been
monitoring it for some time, concerned that it was being used to
extract uranium from phosphates.

According to an Israeli air
force source, the Israeli satellite Ofek 7, launched in June, was
diverted from Iran to Syria. It sent out high-quality images of a
northeastern area every 90 minutes, making it easy for air force
specialists to spot the facility.

Early in the summer Ehud Barak,
the defence minister, had given the order to double Israeli forces on
its Golan Heights border with Syria in anticipation of possible
retaliation by Damascus in the event of air strikes.

Sergei
Kirpichenko, the Russian ambassador to Syria, warned President Bashar
al-Assad last month that Israel was planning an attack, but suggested
the target was the Golan Heights.

Israeli military intelligence
sources claim Syrian special forces moved towards the Israeli outpost
of Mount Hermon on the Golan Heights. Tension rose, but nobody knew why.

At
this point, Barak feared events could spiral out of control. The
decision was taken to reduce the number of Israeli troops on the Golan
Heights and tell Damascus the tension was over. Syria relaxed its guard
shortly before the Israeli Defence Forces struck.

Only three
Israeli cabinet ministers are said to have been in the know � Olmert,
Barak and Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister. America was also
consulted. According to Israeli sources, American air force codes were
given to the Israeli air force attaché in Washington to ensure Israel’s
F15Is would not mistakenly attack their US counterparts.

Once the
mission was under way, Israel imposed draconian military censorship and
no news of the operation emerged until Syria complained that Israeli
aircraft had violated its airspace. Syria claimed its air defences had
engaged the planes, forcing them to drop fuel tanks to lighten their
loads as they fled.

But intelligence sources suggested it was a highly successful Israeli raid on nuclear material supplied by North Korea.

Washington
was rife with speculation last week about the precise nature of the
operation. One source said the air strikes were a diversion for a
daring Israeli commando raid, in which nuclear materials were
intercepted en route to Iran and hauled to Israel. Others claimed they
were destroyed in the attack.

There is no doubt, however, that
North Korea is accused of nuclear cooperation with Syria, helped by AQ
Khan’s network. John Bolton, who was undersecretary for arms control at
the State Department, told the United Nations in 2004 the Pakistani
nuclear scientist had “several other” customers besides Iran, Libya and
North Korea.

Some of his evidence came from the CIA, which had
reported to Congress that it viewed “Syrian nuclear intentions with
growing concern”.

“I’ve been worried for some time about North
Korea and Iran outsourcing their nuclear programmes,” Bolton said last
week. Syria, he added, was a member of a “junior axis of evil”, with a
well-established ambition to develop weapons of mass destruction.

The
links between Syria and North Korea date back to the rule of Kim
Il-sung and President Hafez al-Assad in the last century. In recent
months, their sons have quietly ordered an increase in military and
technical cooperation.

Foreign diplomats who follow North Korean
affairs are taking note. There were reports of Syrian passengers on
flights from Beijing to Pyongyang and sightings of Middle Eastern
businessmen from sources who watch the trains from North Korea to China.

On
August 14, Rim Kyong Man, the North Korean foreign trade minister, was
in Syria to sign a protocol on “cooperation in trade and science and
technology”. No details were released, but it caught Israel’s attention.

Syria
possesses between 60 and 120 Scud-C missiles, which it has bought from
North Korea over the past 15 years. Diplomats believe North Korean
engineers have been working on extending their 300-mile range. It means
they can be used in the deserts of northeastern Syria � the area of the
Israeli strike.

The triangular relationship between North Korea,
Syria and Iran continues to perplex intelligence analysts. Syria served
as a conduit for the transport to Iran of an estimated £50m of missile
components and technology sent by sea from North Korea. The same route
may be in use for nuclear equipment.

But North Korea is at a
sensitive stage of negotiations to end its nuclear programme in
exchange for security guarantees and aid, leading some diplomats to
cast doubt on the likelihood that Kim would cross America’s “red line”
forbidding the proliferation of nuclear materials.

Christopher
Hill, the State Department official representing America in the talks,
said on Friday he could not confirm “intelligence-type things”, but the
reports underscored the need “to make sure the North Koreans get out of
the nuclear business”.

By its actions, Israel showed it is not interested in waiting for diplomacy to work where nuclear weapons are at stake.

As
a bonus, the Israelis proved they could penetrate the Syrian air
defence system, which is stronger than the one protecting Iranian
nuclear sites.

This weekend President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran
sent Ali Akbar Mehrabian, his nephew, to Syria to assess the damage.
The new “axis of evil” may have lost one of its spokes.

September 16, 2007 at 02:32 AM in Iran, Syria | Permalink | Top of page | Blog Home

Israel's Syria 'raid' remains a mystery

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Israel's Syria 'raid' remains a mystery

By Jonathan Marcus BBC diplomatic correspondent During the early hours of last Thursday morning, a number of Israeli jets appear to have entered Syrian air-space from the Mediterranean Sea, possibly penetrating deep into the country.

Later unidentified drop tanks, which may have
contained fuel for the planes, were found on Turkish soil near the
Syrian border, indicating perhaps the Israeli jets' exit route.

The Syrian authorities are livid. They say that the
aircraft were driven off but that they fired their weaponry into a
deserted area.

The implication is that the planes effectively dumped their munitions so better to manoeuvre during their escape.

The Syrian government has briefed Western diplomats and complained to the United Nations.

But there have been no images of the empty countryside where the weapons are alleged to have landed.

Israeli sources are saying nothing.

Long-standing contacts are uncharacteristically silent, noting only
that Israel's military censorship on this subject is as tight as they
can ever remember.

Mood of satisfaction

From Washington has come some partial illumination of the shadows.

US officials indicate that at least one target in northern Syria was
hit and despite the Israeli silence there does seem to be a perceptible
mood of satisfaction in Israel; a sense that what they wanted to
achieve was carried out.

So what actually went on during the early hours of Thursday morning? Why were Israeli jets over Syria at all?

And if they indeed released weapons, what were they firing at?

Initially experts suggested that this might simply have been an
over-flight to trigger air defence radars and gather electronic
intelligence.

Such a probe might be linked to new air defence missiles reportedly supplied to Syria by the Russians.

Other pundits wondered if a potential strike path to Iran was being
tested out; though a southern route here into US-controlled Iraqi
air-space would be more logical.

And neither option would explain why such aircraft might be armed with air to ground weapons.

North Korea link

As far as likely targets of any attack go there are two broad suggestions.

One, cited by the New York Times newspaper quoting a US source,
suggests that the attack was in some way linked to North Korea.

The former US ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, in a
recent article in the Wall Street Journal, raised the possibility that
Syria is sheltering technology or materials relating to North Korea's
nuclear programme.

When I spoke to Mr Bolton in London just the other day
he strongly defended this thesis though he would not be drawn on the
reliability of his sources.

Another suggestion is that maybe a missile store or factory with weaponry heading to Hezbollah in Lebanon was hit.

Israel has long complained that the Damascus government is at the very
least turning a blind eye to such weapons supplies coming from Iran.

Maybe Israel decided to send the Syrian government a message that it would understand.

Muted response

What is intriguing is that the response of both the Syrian and Israeli
governments has been muted - in the Israeli case largely mute.

The Syrians, while angry, are clearly embarrassed that something may have occurred that they failed to prevent.

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/6991718.stm



Published: 2007/09/12 20:38:31 GMT



© BBC MMVII

September 13, 2007 at 01:50 AM in Israel, Syria | Permalink | Top of page | Blog Home

Detente Is the Talk of Town In Damascus - Forward.com

Syria Claims Mediation Role in West's Standoffs With Hamas and Iran Marc Perelman | Fri. Apr 13, 2007 Damascus - While Republicans and Democrats in Washington trade blows over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Syria last week, officials and pundits in this ancient capital describe the political feuding as a distraction from a more important truth. From their viewpoint, Pelosi's visit was not a freelance bid for American-Syrian thaw but rather the latest step in a larger Syrian-Western rapprochement that has been under way for months.

Source: Detente Is the Talk of Town In Damascus - Forward.com

Sources here acknowledge that the substance of Pelosi’s talks with President Bashar al-Assad hardly deviated from American policy: demands that Syria stop supporting Hezbollah and Palestinian terrorist groups, help secure the release of Israeli soldiers, refrain from meddling in Lebanon’s politics, and prevent arms and militants from crossing into neighboring Iraq.

For the Syrians, all this was less important than Pelosi’s mere presence. The visit by the highest American official in two years was taken by the regime as evidence, the clearest to date, that a Western policy of isolating Syria — prompted by accusations that Damascus was behind the February 2005 slaying of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri — was on its last legs. Coming on the heels of a slew of visits since last summer by Western European officials and by legislators of the United States, the Pelosi junket was interpreted here as evidence that the growing chorus of calls in Washington and Jerusalem to engage Syria was making inroads despite the reluctance of the Bush administration.

“What mattered to the Syrians was that she was in Damascus,” said political scientist Sami Moubayed of al-Kalamoun University. “Whether she came with a peace offer from Israel or a truce from Washington, they welcomed her as a guest of honor, with red carpets in the Syrian capital.”

Syrians point to two hardly known recent diplomatic events as evidence of their eagerness to join the pro-Western fold. Damascus played a key role in pushing Hamas and Fatah to reach an agreement earlier this year on a Palestinian national unity government, which Syrians view as a Hamas concession toward Israel. Even though the deal was signed in Mecca under the auspices of Saudi King Abdullah, a Western diplomat confirmed Syrian claims that most of the heavy lifting was done by Damascus, where Hamas leader Khaled Meshal resides.

In addition, Syrian foreign minister Walid Mouallem told Arab media that Damascus had helped, at Britain’s request, to mediate the release of the 15 British sailors captured last month by Iran for allegedly entering its territorial waters.

The guarded optimism here is better understood when compared with the jittery mood that prevailed in 2005, when a United Nations probe into the Hariri murder pointed fingers at the Assad regime. Syrian troops were then forced to withdraw from Lebanon under American and French pressure, and talk of forcing a regime change in Damascus was in full swing.

But pressure on Syria has eased since then. Iraq has descended into sectarian chaos, and the American administration’s democratization agenda is in shambles. Israel’s military onslaught in Lebanon last summer bolstered pro-Syrian forces. In addition, the escalating tensions over Iran’s nuclear program have taken some pressure off Damascus, even prompting calls to woo the regime back into the Arab mainstream, so as to isolate Tehran.

In Washington, meanwhile, talk of engagement with Syria gained credibility with the release last fall of the bipartisan report issued by the Iraq Study Group. Since then, the pace of congressional trips to Damascus has stepped up; in addition to the Pelosi delegation, three Republican legislators met Assad a couple of days earlier, and another did so the following day.

As a result, Syrian officials are hoping that Washington and Jerusalem will heed their message: Syria is ready not only to make peace with Israel but also to distance itself from Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran — but it sees these as results of negotiations and not as preconditions. In exchange, Damascus wants to obtain the full return of the Golan Heights, a less hostile government in Lebanon and, most crucially, renewal of strong relations with the United States.

“The Syrians are really ready and serious about making peace with Israel,” said Ibrahim Hamidi, longtime Damascus bureau chief of the Saudi newspaper Al-Hayat. “Syria is also ready to discuss Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran as part of the endgame with Washington.”

A Western diplomat in Damascus seconded the view that the regime is not pursuing any ideological goal but is motivated exclusively by Syria’s national interest and its self-preservation. As a result, the diplomat said, Syria appears ready to discuss even such sensitive issues as Lebanon.

Syria signaled its openness in secret peace talks between a Syrian intermediary and a former senior Israeli diplomat, according to published accounts that have been confirmed publicly by the Israeli negotiator, former Foreign Ministry Director-General Alon Liel. Both Syria and Israel have denied involvement in those discussions, but the participants claim that both governments were updated regularly. Well-informed sources add that this is especially true with regard to key Syrian officials, and that Damascus eventually pulled out when Israel refused to allow officials to participate in the talks.

A related development has been the warming of relations between Syria and Saudi Arabia after years of deterioration. Ties hit a low point during last summer’s war in Lebanon, when Assad blasted Arab countries that initially criticized Hezbollah — most notably Saudi Arabia — as “half-men.” Both sides made efforts to iron out their differences before the recent summit of the Arab League held in the Saudi capital, where Syria endorsed the renewed Saudi initiative calling for normalization with Israel.

Still, another Western diplomat said that Western countries remained uncertain about Syria’s willingness to distance itself from Hezbollah or from Iran.

Early this week, France began circulating a draft statement at the U.N. Security Council expressing concern about continuing Syrian weapons shipments to Hezbollah.

While the Bush administration maintains that the regime’s negative role in Lebanon, Iraq and the Palestinian territories does not warrant a full-fledged engagement, it nonetheless sent a State Department official to Damascus last month to discuss the fate of Iraqi refugees. American officials also participated in a conference in Baghdad that was attended by officials from both Syria and Iran.

Moreover, the administration has quietly used European diplomats and Saudi officials to assess whether Syria is ready to change course.

Last August, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos became the first Western official to visit Damascus since the Hariri murder. He was followed by several European diplomats, including Britain’s top foreign policy adviser and, most symbolically, E.U. foreign policy chief Javier Solana. The British diplomat, Nigel Sheinwald, arrived in Damascus last November with a set of requests after a trip to Washington and meetings with State Department officials. He called on Syria to support the Western-backed governments in Iraq and in Lebanon, to pressure Hamas to enter a Palestinian unity government with Fatah, to fight Islamic terrorism and to downgrade relations with Iran.

Syria moved on the Iraq front by re-establishing diplomatic and intelligence ties with Baghdad, welcoming senior Iraqi government officials, intensifying a security crackdown on jihadist networks and coaxing Sunni leaders to participate in national reconciliation efforts. Syria helped broker the Palestinian government accord. It signaled that its growing ties with Iran were the result of its isolation rather than an ideological stance — and, as such, could be easily reversed. But Lebanon, which was the main focus of the Solana visit and of recent discussions with Saudi Arabia, remains the sticking point.

The Western- and Saudi-backed Lebanese government has locked horns with pro-Syrian factions over the creation of an international tribunal to judge the culprits of the killings of Hariri and other anti-Syrian politicians. For months, pro-Syrian forces have blocked a parliamentary vote to create the court, citing Damascus’s claims that the U.N. probe is a political ploy by Western powers rather than a fair judicial process.

Some observers believe that both sides have now realized that a compromise was needed to avoid a civil war in Lebanon. The Solana visit, in particular, fueled speculation that a proposal was in the offing to spare the most senior Syrian officials in exchange for Damascus’s acceptance of the tribunal.

Compared with Lebanon, Israel is a fairly straightforward problem. Both sides nearly clinched an agreement in 2000 but ultimately failed to reach a compromise on the tracing of the border. After insisting for years that future talks would need to start where they left off, Syria formally dropped that condition, beginning with a 2003 Assad interview in The New York Times. Syrian officials claim that a deal would be within reach if only they had partners in Jerusalem and in Washington. After Pelosi announced that she had conveyed a peace message from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the administration blasted her for encouraging a rogue regime and Olmert’s office quickly denied that Israel had made any overture.

But while the regime officially laments the lack of Israeli and American response to its repeated peace overtures, it also serves a purpose. “They understand Olmert is very weak and that there will be no resumption of full-fledged negotiations under a Bush administration,” one local commentator said. “So their repeated calls for peace are a way of embarrassing Israel and the U.S., because they know there will be no answer.”

April 12, 2007 at 09:53 PM in Middle East, Syria | Permalink | Top of page | Blog Home

The face: Sir Nigel Sheinwald-News-Politics-TimesOnline

Penny Wark The release of 15 British sailors and Marines from Iran is both the Prime Minister's triumph and further evidence that Margaret Beckett lacks credibility as Foreign Secretary. On this occasion Tony Blair is indebted to his foreign policy adviser, Sir Nigel Sheinwald, who held secret talks with Ali Larijani, the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council. The telephone call between the two men is regarded as the breakthrough encounter.

Source: The face: Sir Nigel Sheinwald-News-Politics-TimesOnline

A diplomatic success for a seasoned career diplomat, then. But the curious thing about Sir Nigel is that for all his cool-headed skill and the experience accrued during a 31-year career, he is not noted for having a delicate touch.

Rather, those who have worked with him describe him as outspoken, abrasive and ambitious. Yet if this is all that he is, he would not have pulled off a succession of sensitive, clandestine missions involving visits to such cities as Damascus, Tripoli, Baghdad, Jerusalem, Ramallah and Khartoum. Most notably he was involved in the secret negotiations that resulted in Libya’s abandonment of its nuclear weapons programme in 2003.

He is certainly brusque, says one who knows him, and he is regarded with awe. Another says he is all right if you stand up to him; he is fun too, he can be indiscreet, and as the father of three sons he is a dedicated family man. A nanny once called him a pussycat, which might surprise those who have seen only the rottweiler, but which indicates that there is more to Sir Nigel than a fierce front — and we all know that being forceful and scary is a way of keeping people at a distance.

He sees himself as someone who asks the tough questions and has no time for prevarication. A Middle East analyst recalls that his first comment to him was: “Are you in fa-vour of suicide bombers?”

After an education at Harrow County School for Boys and Balliol, Oxford, he joined the Diplomatic Service in 1976. A Moscow posting ended suddenly after an accident in which a Russian was killed by the car he was driving. He has since worked in Washington, done two stints in Brussels, and a range of policy jobs in London, where he headed the Foreign Office news department from 1995 until 1998.

He served as spokesman for Douglas Hurd and Malcolm Rifkind, but the turning point of his career was the arrival of new Labour in 1997. He quickly established a good relationship with Robin Cook, then Foreign Secretary, though his job was not to represent his Foreign Office colleagues but to implement the Prime Minister’s views. At 53 his appointment as the next Ambassador to the US makes it clear that he is very much Blair’s man. Will he be Brown’s too? Certainly it is easy to imagine that they will understand each other.

April 12, 2007 at 09:51 PM in Iran, Middle East, Syria | Permalink | Top of page | Blog Home

Investigators interview Lebanese president

Investigators interview Lebanese president

y SAM F. GHATTAS
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- U.N. investigators interviewed Lebanon's president on Friday about the assassination of a former prime minister - the first time the U.N. commission has received testimony from a head of state since it began collecting evidence in June.

Chief U.N. investigator Detlev Mehlis has said President Emile Lahoud is not a suspect in the Feb. 14 truck bombing that killed Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 20 others on a Beirut street. But a suspect made a call to the president's phone minutes before the blast, according to the U.N. commission's interim report last month.

Four Lebanese generals, all pro-Syrian, are under arrest and charged with Hariri's murder after the U.N. commission named them as suspects. One of the generals is the commander of the presidential guard and two others are close to Lahoud.

On Friday evening, two investigators came to the presidential palace in Baabda to meet with Lahoud, the president's office said.

"The president informed (the investigators) of the accurate information pertaining to what has been reported about phone calls to the presidential palace before and after the crime, in addition to rumors relating to the crime that were carried by the media," the presidential statement said.

The president's office has denied Lahoud received a call from a suspect minutes before the explosion.

advertising
Officials close to the U.N. investigation said the investigators asked the president about communications and the chain of command in his office. The meeting lasted more than an hour, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.

By contrast, the commission's request to interview President Bashar Assad of Syria was refused, according to the report last month.

Earlier this month, the U.N. Security Council upgraded the powers of the commission. It gave Mehlis, a German prosecutor, the right to interview anybody and to select the venue and conditions. The council also resolved that Syria must cooperate fully with the commission and warned of further action if it failed to do so.

The killing of Hariri, who was regarded as a quiet opponent of Syrian influence in Lebanon, was a turning point in modern Lebanese history. It provoked mass demonstrations against Syria and magnified the international pressure on Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon.

In April, fewer than three months after the murder, Syria withdrew its forces, ending a 29-year military domination of its western neighbor.

Lahoud, a political enemy of Hariri, has supported the U.N. investigation. He has repeatedly denied any role in the murder and called for the culprits to be punished.

However, his being interviewed by the commission is likely to strengthen calls from politicians and newspapers opposed to Syria for Lahoud to resign. The demand for his resignation has intensified since Syrian forces withdrew and the arrest of the four generals in August.

Lahoud has refused to step down, and enjoys the support of the influential Maronite Church, of which he is a member. He is also backed by a prominent Christian leader as well as the Amal and Hezbollah groups, which represent the Shiite Muslims, the country's largest community.

November 12, 2005 at 06:33 PM in Syria | Permalink | Top of page | Blog Home

A damning finger points at Syria's regime

A damning finger points at Syria's regime | Economist.com

Oct 21st 2005
From The Economist Global Agenda
The UN’s investigation into the assassination in February of Rafik Hariri, a former prime minister of Lebanon, has pointed a finger at the regime of Syria's President Bashar Assad. But America and other powers will have to think carefully about how tough they should get with the embattled Mr Assad

A FABLE is often told to explain the Middle East to outsiders. A scorpion asks a frog to carry it across a river. The frog replies that the scorpion might sting and kill him. The scorpion reassures: “But if I do, we both die.” The frog agrees, and the scorpion stings him midstream. Why, asks the drowning frog of the drowning scorpion? “Because this is the Middle East.”

When Rafik Hariri was assassinated in February in Beirut, some argued that the Syrian regime was such an obvious culprit that it could not possibly have done it. Hariri, a former prime minister of Lebanon, had become a vocal opponent of the decades-long Syrian occupation. What regime could be so obviously heavy-handed as to murder a prominent opponent with a truck bomb in broad daylight? Nevertheless, the suspicions of its involvement grew, inside and outside Lebanon, eventually forcing Syria to withdraw its troops and end its domination of its neighbour.

Syria protested, and still protests, its innocence but the bleak view of Middle East politics encapsulated in that fable seemed to be confirmed by a report on Hariri's death that was delivered to the United Nations Security Council on Thursday October 20th, pointing the finger directly at the highest levels of the Syrian government. Most importantly, it has fingered Asef Shawkat, who is Syria’s military-intelligence chief and brother-in-law to Syria’s president, Bashar Assad.

Since Syria is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Assad family, suspicion is sure to mount about how much Mr Assad himself knew. Providing further meat for conspiracy theorists, it emerged on Friday that the name of the Syrian president's brother, Maher Assad, had been edited out of the report shortly before it had been presented to the Security Council. The report originally quoted an unnamed Syrian witness as saying the president's two relatives were among a group of Syrian and Lebanese officials who decided to assassinate Hariri at a meeting in Damascus in late 2004. The edited version gives the witness's account of the meeting but omits the two top Syrians' names.

In addition, the report hints that Emile Lahoud, the pro-Syrian president of Lebanon, might also have been in on the plot. But intriguingly, it did not even mention Ghazi Kanaan, the former head of Syrian military intelligence in Lebanon, who Syrian officials said committed suicide on October 12th. His death, coming so soon before the UN report's submission, had seemed suspiciously convenient, as if perhaps he had been chosen as fall guy over the killing of Hariri.

The findings could destablise both countries, with ripple effects on the broader Middle East. Syria entered Lebanon in the late 1970s, when it was riven by a multi-sided civil war between its rival Christian, Shia Muslim and Sunni Muslim communities, with Lebanon-based Palestinian militants and an Israeli invasion further complicating the picture. The Syrian presence helped end the war in 1990 and stabilise the country thereafter, with the occupation accepted by war-weary Lebanese as a price worth paying.

Lebanon began to recover, and even to flourish, not least thanks to Hariri. He had made a fortune in construction and other businesses in Saudi Arabia, and brought his money and influence to bear on restoring Lebanon to its former glory as a relaxed and enjoyable centre of commerce and culture in the Arab world. He was twice prime minister but fell out with Mr Lahoud and left office in 2004 to campaign for an end to Syria’s military and intelligence presence in Lebanon. His murder brought about huge demonstrations in his home country and widespread international condemnation. France and America joined forces at the UN to pass a Security Council resolution calling for Syria’s exit from Lebanon, and the disarmament of Lebanon’s many militias.

But while Syria has pulled its troops out, it is suspected of maintaining many spies in Lebanon. In addition, Lebanon’s armed factions remain armed, most notably Hizbullah, a Shia militia backed by Iran and Syria that has carried on a long-running battle with Israel. After the Hariri killing, there were several small bombings of Christian targets, as Christians had led the calls for Syria to leave. There was worry about a potential relapse of sectarian violence. That turned out to be too pessimistic. But the UN report may revive such fears.

Mr Assad and Mr Lahoud deny any involvement, of course. But the UN report claims that Mr Lahoud received a phone call from one of the conspirators minutes before the bombing. It also claims there is evidence that Mr Assad's brother-in-law and top aide Mr Shawkat forced a Palestinian militant to claim responsibility in a video recorded weeks before the assassination. The report also says the plot would not have been possible without help from Lebanon’s own spies and soldiers. Four pro-Syrian Lebanese generals have already been arrested, one having allegedly told a witness, shortly before the killing: “We are going to send him on a trip—bye bye, Hariri.”
Handle with care

In worried anticipation of the report’s consequences, the streets of Beirut have been unusually empty. But the political fallout has begun. Two Lebanese parliamentarians have called on Mr Lahoud to resign. The American ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, said the report “refers to lack of cooperation by Syria with the investigation, which is diplo-speak for obstruction of justice.” America and its European allies are discussing what to do next at the UN.

Sanctions against Syria are a possibility. But America has also tried recently to handle the country delicately, since it has cooperated with America in rounding up terrorists. Now, however, Syria is feeling isolated and jumpy. America accuses it both of undermining the Israeli-Palestinian peace process—by harbouring and abetting terror groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad—and destabilising Iraq by letting militants cross the long Iraqi-Syrian border. (The link with Iraq is also illustrated by the fact that the Hariri bomber may have been an Iraqi tricked into thinking he was killing Iraq’s former prime minister, Ayad Allawi, according to the report.)

Bringing yet more pressure to bear on Syria over the Hariri affair could make its regime even more unpredictable and unco-operative. But the process will continue. Detlev Mehlis, the report’s lead investigator, will brief the Security Council on Tuesday, October 25th. He has also asked for two more months to finalise his conclusions. Prosecutions of the perpetrators could take place in Lebanese courts, or could come in the form of some kind of international tribunal, as Hariri’s son has requested. But without co-operation from Syria, progress could be difficult.

Could the affair destabilise the Syrian regime? Though American neo-conservatives loathe Syria, and it was rumoured to be the next stop for America’s army after Iraq, undermining Mr Assad could be a dicey proposition. The local opposition to the regime, such as it is in a police state, is fragmented. On October 16th the groups joined briefly to issue a declaration calling for democratic reform. But they are far from constituting a group that could take power if Mr Assad should fall. America has its hands full in Iraq, and knows that Syria can help ruin talks between Israel and the Palestinians. It must think carefully over just how tough it wants to get with prickly, difficult Syria.

October 24, 2005 at 07:46 PM in Syria | Permalink | Top of page | Blog Home

Turkey, Syria sign free-trade accord amid warming ties on Erdogan visit

Turkey, Syria sign free-trade accord amid warming ties on Erdogan visit - Yahoo! UK & Ireland News

DAMASCUS (AFP) - Former foes Turkey and Syria signed a free-trade accord and said they had agreed to put their differences behind them during a visit by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Erdogan, at the start of a two-day mission, and his Syrian counterpart Mohammed Naji Otri signed the deal, which had been under negotiation for several years.

"Our links will develop in all fields in the future, especially in trade," Otri said at a joint news conference, while Erdogan said it "shows how far relations have come between the two countries".
"We are in agreement. We want a comprehensive cooperation in the region," said the Syrian premier, adding that Erdogan had also agreed to increase the flow of water into Syria.

Asked about disputes over sharing of scarce water resources in the arid region, Otri said those problems "are now forgotten", according to a Turkish interpreter.
Syria has in the past accused Turkey of taking more than its fair share of the waters of the Euphrates River, a charge which Turkey has denied, saying that Syria has not built enough dams to retain the water.

Asked about proposals to jointly build a dam over the Oronte River, which flows the other way, rising in Syria and entering the Mediterranean from Turkish territory, Otri said:

"If the dam project serves the interests of Syrian and Turkish citizens, then let's build it. That would demonstrate the exemplary relations that link the two countries.

A Turkish diplomatic source said Damascus lifted its reservations to signing the trade deal "after a certain accord" was reached on Turkey's sovereignty in the southern province of Hatay, formerly Alexandretta, on which Syria had claims.

The region was ceded to Turkey in 1939 when Syria was under French mandate, and Ankara has maintained that the issue of sovereignty is non-negotiable.

The free-trade accord is the cornerstone of efforts to boost the newly found friendship between the two former foes, which came to the brink of war only six years ago.

Trade between the two countries amounted to one billion dollars in 2003.

The "new era" in relations began when Syria's President Bashar al-Assad visited Turkey in January on the first such visit by a Syrian head of state, Erdogan earlier told reporters at Ankara airport.

Erdogan, whose delegation includes three ministers, among them Foreign Trade Minister Kursad Tuzmen, also met Assad and is to visit the northern city of Aleppo on Thursday before flying back home.

Turkey, a close ally of the United States and Israel, has pushed for closer relations with Syria since the US-led invasion of Iraq, despite warnings from Washington to limit its cooperation with Damascus.

Ankara and Damascus share concerns over the Iraqi Kurds' aspirations for self-rule in a future federated Iraq as they both have sizeable Kurdish communities of their own.

In 1998, the two countries nearly went to war over Ankara's accusations that Damascus was sheltering separatist Kurdish militants fighting the Turkish government.

Tensions eased when Damascus expelled Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan from his safe haven in Syria and signed a security deal with Ankara, pledging to stop supporting Ocalan's Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

As a result, Turkish intelligence operatives arrested Ocalan in Kenya, where he had fled. He was brought back to Turkey for trial and is serving a life sentence for treason.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, war-torn Iraq and the Kurdish question also figured in the Otri-Erdogan talks, officials said.

Turkey and Syria have since the March 2003 invasion of neighbouring Iraq signed a series of economic and security agreements, including one to jointly combat crime and terrorism.

Last year, Syria detained and extradited to Turkey 20 people wanted in connection with suicide-bombings that targeted synagogues and British interests in Istanbul.

December 22, 2004 at 07:45 PM in Syria | Permalink | Top of page | Blog Home

Syria 'made millions' selling arms to Iraq

Times Online - World

By Richard Beeston, Diplomatic Editor

SENIOR figures in the Syrian regime were accused yesterday of making millions of pounds by illegally supplying Iraq with weapons in the run-up to the US-led invasion.

According to 800 pages of documents collected by German and American journalists from the offices of an Iraqi company in Baghdad, the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad was far more deeply involved in helping Saddam Hussein to break a United Nations arms embargo than was previously suspected.

The allegations are likely to increase pressure on a country already facing sanctions from Washington to force it to stop supporting militant groups, dismantle its chemical and biological weapons programmes and stop fighters crossing into Iraq to attack coalition troops.

The evidence against the Syrians is in contracts, shipping manifests and other commercial records found at the offices of the Al Bashair Trading Co, the largest of several front companies used by Iraq to circumvent more than a decade of UN sanctions.

The contracts include the sale of 1,000 Russian-built heavy machine guns and 20 million rounds of ammunition for assault rifles; 380 engines for SA-2 anti-aircraft missiles made by the Polish company Evax; telecommunications equipment used for air defence from the South Korean company Armitel; US-made surveillance equipment sold by the Russian company Millenium, and 20 tank barrels from STO in Slovenia.

The deals were made through SES International, a Syrian firm based in Damascus which is run by leading figures in the ruling Baath Party.

The documents, which were found by Stern magazine and translated by the Los Angeles Times, showed that SES International signed scores of contracts worth tens of millions of pounds for arms and defence equipment over the past three years. The general manager is Asef Isa Shaleesh, a cousin of President al-Assad. Another relative, Major General Dhu Himma Shaleesh, the head of the elite presidential security corps, is said to have held a stake.

According to the files, Mr Shaleesh made at least four visits to Baghdad between the summer of 2001 and 2002 and was involved in 50 arms deals.

The Foreign Ministry in Damascus said yesterday that it was aware of the allegations but did not want to comment. The issue is likely to be taken up by Margaret Scoby, the newly appointed US ambassador to Damascus.

December 31, 2003 at 04:42 AM in Syria | Permalink | Top of page | Blog Home

Syria sold weapons to Saddam

Scotsman.com News - Top Stories - Syria sold weapons to Saddam

JASON BEATTIE

SYRIA repeatedly breached United Nations embargoes to supply Iraq with arms and military hardware in the run-up to the coalition's invasion in March, it was reported yesterday.

A Syrian company with close connections to the ruling regime in Damascus funnelled illicit components for surface-to-air missiles, telecommunications equipment and small arms to Saddam Hussein between 2002 and 2003, the Los Angeles Times has revealed.
The private firm SES International was the main channel for the movement of illegal arms to Baghdad.
The company signed contracts to supply millions of dollars in equipment to the Iraqi military, including machine guns and other light weaponry now being used in insurgent action against United States and British forces overseeing reconstruction work.

Last night, the Foreign Office gave warning that it was examining the evidence documented by the Los Angeles Times and was prepared to raise concerns with Syria if appropriate.
The documents unearthed in Iraq also reveal that senior officials in the Syrian government assisted SES in importing a ship full of hardware destined for the Iraqi military.
At the height of the Iraq war, Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, accused the Syrian regime of allowing the shipment of night-vision goggles and other military supplies to Iraq.
At the time, the Syrians said Mr Rumsfeld�s remarks were unfounded and irresponsible. But files unearthed in the Baghdad office of the Al Bashair Trading Company reveal SES signed more than 50 contracts with Baghdad firms as Saddam desperately tried to reinforce his military operation ahead of the invasion.
Among the successful deals were the delivery of 1,000 heavy machine guns and up to 20 million bullets for assault rifles. The documents � 800 pages of signed contracts, export papers, bank deposits and minutes of meetings � offer proof for the first time of the relationship between several states and
the illegal arms trade.

Although there is no evidence of dealings in weapons of mass destruction,
the documents show how Syria, North Korea and Iraq were involved to differing extents in the illegal arms trade. Tony Blair argued that one of the main justifications for action in Iraq was the potentially catastrophic consequences of an alliance between rogue states with weapons of mass destruction and international terrorism.
The newspaper found that a Polish company signed four contracts with Iraq and successfully shipped hundreds of surface-to-air Volga/SA-2 missile engines to Baghdad through Syria.
In addition, a Russian company signed a �4.96 million contract in September 2002 to supply mostly US-made communications and surveillance gear to Iraq�s intelligence service.
The company�s general manager in Moscow later wrote to suggest "the preparation of a sham contract" to deceive weapons inspectors, documents show. And a Slovenian state owned company shipped 20 large battle-tank barrels identified as "steel tubes" to SES in February 2002. Overall, its secret contract called for delivering 175 tank barrels to Iraq. Two North Korean officials also met the head of Al Bashair at SES offices in Damascus month before the war to discuss Iraq�s payment of �5.63 million for "major components" for ballistic missiles. These revelations and others like them could place a question mark over Mr Blair�s approach to Syria. The Prime Minister has attempted to win round the Syrian president, Bashir Assad, through diplomacy, in contrast to the White House, which has taken a more aggressive approach. No-one from the Syrian embassy in London was available to comment.
A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said any provision of military equipment to Iraq would be a serious breach of the sanctions regime. Syria should take seriously its responsibility that sanctions are not violated, the spokeswoman added, saying:
"We have raised previous violations of sanctions with the countries concerned and we will consider any evidence presented in this respect and raise concerns again if appropriate."
Sir Timothy Garden, from the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London, said the revelations of the illicit trading fitted with previous intelligence about the Syrian-Iraq axis.
"I would have expected there to have been trading relations [between Iraq and Syria] which were covert. There were both pariah regimes and they tend to operate together," he said. "It may be things were going without the Syrian government being directly involved but without it trying that much to stop it."

December 31, 2003 at 02:59 AM in Iraq, Syria | Permalink | Top of page | Blog Home