Syrian general's killing severs Hezbollah links

Times of London ^ | 08/06/08 | James Hider

[gandalftb]

Any pro would not waste his time on such an unstable and unreliable weapon platform as a boat of any kind and size.

If the shooter was that aware of his target he would wait until dark, catch him on a road way, IED, drive-by, restaurant hit, etc.

There is a real power struggle between Bashir and his exiled uncle Rifaat al-Assad.

Saudi King Abdullah is married to a sister of Rifaat's wife. Rifaat has recently reached out to his former enemies the Muslim Brotherhood in an attempt to counter the Shiite Hezbollah and is also in contact with Mossad.

The hit took place in an area Rifaat grew up in and knows well.

Mugniyeh and Suleiman are part of an internal power struggle and eventual civil war in Syria, fueled mainly by Israel and the French who want to regain power in Lebanon.

very complicated and lethal politics in Syria.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Rifaat al-Assad is still around? I wondered about Rifaat but he is indeed alive well.

IIRC, Rifaat is the guy who did the dirty work of crushing Hama rebellion by none other than Muslim Brotherhood. Talking about strange bed fellows. Rifaat, Saudi, French, and Muslim Brotherhood against Baby Assad. The baby is in real trouble.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Thanks for your info.

[SunkenCiv]

Interesting!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2057130/posts?page=41#41

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hafez_al-Assad#Challenge_from_Rifaat

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/788021.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/world/middle_east/787906.stm

-frame-up?-

http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/2005/06/george_hawi_kne.php

[tarator]

A “sniper” at sea does not necessarily mean a human on a boat. It could be a UAV with an inertially stabilized weapon.

See http://www.sagetechcorp.com/Main%20Menu/Projects/Sniper/UAV%20Sniper%20v001.pdf

However, in that case, the three holes should be closer together. Those guys need to work a little more on those servos. ;-)

[gandalftb]

Rifaat was exiled to France and has been living in Marbella, Spain after he attempted a coup against his brother Hafez.

Rifaat founded the Red Knights in N Lebanon and runs very deep among the Alawite sect in Syria.

Bashir is considered by many as too weak to confront Iran/Hezbollah.

Hard to imagine but Syria is actually more unstable internally than Lebanon.

Remember the Arab mantra: My enemy's enemy is my friend.