Zitat:BTW, I'm first and foremost impressed by intelligence work. Just think about it. I suppose the cargo was not loaded in some Rev.Guard barracks in Teheran with a best-wishes card from uncle Ahmadinejad. I can imagine that arms were purchased through a number of intermediaries to cover tracks. False documents were issued (possibly more than once on the way). Money changed hands. Somewhere up there there is a mole/double agent who reported the transaction and it was followed. The commando raid was the last accord. It's not the most spectacular part of the story. How difficult it was for well trained SF troops to stop an unarmed cargo ship? But the work that preceded it, that's something Israel should be proud of - and we'd never know anything concrete about it...

Zitat:Israel: Netanjahu zu Gesprächen mit Syrien bereit

Paris (Reuters) - Israels Ministerpräsident Benjamin Netanjahu hat offenbar seine Bereitschaft zu Friedensgesprächen mit Syrien signalisiert.

Ein hochrangiger israelischer Regierungsvertreter sagte am Mittwoch in Paris, das Thema sei von Frankreichs Präsident Nikolas Sarkozy bei einer Unterredung mit Netanjahu angesprochen worden. Der israelische Regierungschef habe geantwortet, er sei "jederzeit, an jedem Ort" zu einem Treffen mit dem syrischen Präsidenten Baschar Al-Assad bereit, sofern es keine Vorbedingungen gebe.

Zitat:Syrian DM Stresses Tehran-Damascus Joint Confrontation against Attacks

TEHRAN (FNA)- Syrian Defense Minister Lieutenant General Ali Mohammad Habib Mahmoud on Wednesday underlined Iran and Syria's joint efforts and cooperation in repelling potential threats and attacks.

"We will jointly confront any attack on Damascus or Tehran," the Syrian defense minister said in a meeting with his visiting Iranian counterpart Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi in Damascus.

"Tehran and Damascus will stay on each other's side against any threat," he reiterated.
...

Zitat:Konfrontation mit Israel
Iran und Syrien stimmen sich mit Hamas und Hizbullah ab

26. Februar 2010 Nachdem sich der iranische Präsident Ahmadineschad und der syrische Präsident Assad demonstrativ ihrer Freundschaft versichert hatten, sind sie am Freitag mit den Spitzen der Hizbullah und der Hamas zusammengekommen. In Damaskus verständigte sich die Staatspräsidenten Syriens und Irans, Assad und Ahmadineschad, mit den Spitzen von Hizbullah und Hamas, Nasrallah und Meschal, auf eine gemeinsame Position gegenüber Israel verständigt. Nach seinem Treffen mit Assad konsultierte Ahmadineschad erst mit Vertretern der in Damaskus ansässigen radikalen Palästinensergruppen. Danach kam es zu einem Dreiertreffen von Assad und Ahmadineschad mit dem Generalsekretär der libanesischen Hizbullah, Nasrallah. Die drei hätten über die „wiederholten Drohungen“ Israels gegenüber dem Libanon und Syrien beraten, berichtete Manar TV, der Sender der Hizbullah.
...

Zitat:Iran und Syrien stimmen sich mit Hamas und Hizbullah ab

Zitat:Syria Is Accused of Transferring Scud Missiles to Hezbollah

JERUSALEM—Syria has transferred long-range Scud missiles to the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah, Israeli and U.S. officials alleged, in a move that threatens to alter the Middle East's military balance and sets back a major diplomatic outreach effort to Damascus by the Obama administration.

[...]

Israeli officials called Scud missiles "game-changing" armaments that mark a new escalation in the Mideast conflict. They alleged that Mr. Assad is increasingly linking Syria's military command with those of Hezbollah and Iran.

Officials briefed on the intelligence said Israeli and American officials believe Syria transferred Scud missiles built with either North Korean or Russian technology.

Rumors of the arms transfer had been swirling around Jerusalem and Washington for more than a week, but both Israeli and U.S. officials initially declined to confirm the reports. "Syria claims it wants peace while at the same time it delivers Scuds to Hezbollah, whose only goal is to threaten the state of Israel," Mr. Peres said in an interview with Israeli radio.

[...]

"It's increasingly hard to argue that the engagement track has worked," said Andrew Tabler, a Syria analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a regional think tank with no party affiliation that some view as pro-Israel.

White House supporters replied that the U.S. needs close engagement with Syria all the more because of provocations like the Scud surprise, in order to be better placed to sway Syria.

"If anything, we need (an ambassador) in Damascus full time just to ensure that reality gets its day in court now and then," a senior administration official said.


[...]

In February, President Obama nominated a career diplomat, Robert Ford, to be the first U.S. ambassador to Damascus since 2005. The Bush administration pulled its chief envoy after the assassination of Lebanon's Mr. Hariri, which was widely blamed on Syrian agents. Damascus has denied the allegations.

[...]

U.S. officials stressed Tuesday that the White House wasn't second-guessing its strategy and was pushing ahead with Mr. Ford's nomination. "Sending an ambassador to Syria who can press the Syrian government in a firm and coordinated fashion...is part of our strategy to achieve comprehensive peace in the region," a White House statement said.

Zitat:Israel warns Syria over Hezbollah attacks

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

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.

Zitat:‘Hizbullah has Syrian missile base’

Hizbullah has a missile base in Syria, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told his Italian counterpart Silvio Berlusconi in Italy, Channel 2 news reported Saturday.

Syria agreed to transfer Scud missiles to Hizbullah after intense and repeated efforts by Iran to convince it an Israeli attack in the north was imminent, the report added.

However, the weapons were not transferred out of Syria, but instead Hizbullah was allowed to have a base inside Syria, according to the report.

This reports follows a report by The Times of London on Friday that satellite photos show that Hizbullah terrorists have been living in armed bases stocked with surface-to-surface missiles in Syria.

Zitat:Syria gave advanced M-600 missiles to Hezbollah, defense officials claim

Syria has delivered advanced M600 rockets to Hezbollah militants in Lebanon within the past year, Israeli defense officials said on Wednesday.

The M600, a Syrian copy of the Iranian Fateh-110, has a range of 300km and carries a half-ton warhead. If fired from southern Lebanon it would be capable of hitting Tel Aviv.