Mob War In the Mideast

The Washington Post ^ | January 4, 2006 | David Ignatius

[neverdem]

In the gangster movies, you know all hell is about to break loose when one of the disgruntled old dons decides to switch sides and rat out the young Godfather. Something like that is now happening with Syria -- and it provides a new year's bombshell for an already turbulent Middle East.

The turncoat don in this case is Syria's former vice president, Abdul Halim Khaddam. From exile in France, he gave an astonishing interview Friday that linked the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad to the murder last year of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri. He told al-Arabiya television that "there were many threats" from Syria against Hariri before his death, and that it was "impossible that any apparatus in Syria could have taken a unilateral decision to murder Hariri" without Assad's approval.

Khaddam offered other devastating details. He said that after Hariri's death, he went to Assad and denounced Syria's chief of intelligence in Lebanon, Gen. Rustom Ghazali. "I told Bashar that he should bring this criminal [Ghazali] and chop his head off because he had created this situation in Lebanon." He said he advised Assad "to form an investigation committee to punish the officers who committed blunders in Lebanon," but that the Syrian president balked.

The revelations instantly made Khaddam the decisive witness in the United Nations' investigation of Hariri's death and put a tight new squeeze on Assad and his regime. In the movies, Khaddam would now be entering a witness protection program, and the warlords would be grabbing their submachine guns. And in real life, it may not be all that different. But this is a mafia war that could widen to involve real armies in Syria, Lebanon, Israel and even distant Iran.

To understand the latest turns of the screw in Syria and Lebanon...

[Gordongekko909]

Lebanon needs to shake Syria off. Here's hoping her citizens have the will to go forward with it. And it would be really nice if they would make friendly with Israel.

[Riley]

The turncoat don in this case is Syria's former vice president, Abdul Halim Khaddam. From exile in France, he gave an astonishing interview Friday that linked the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad to the murder last year of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri. He told al-Arabiya television that "there were many threats" from Syria against Hariri before his death, and that it was "impossible that any apparatus in Syria could have taken a unilateral decision to murder Hariri" without Assad's approval.

This is 'astonishing' to the Washington Post? Really? I thought it was common knowlege at the time that it happened. Who the hell else would've been behind it?

Sometimes the MSM makes me want to just slowly bang my head on the desk.

[jazusamo]

If Khaddam is smart, he'll get out of France while he's still breathing. He better make himself disappear in a country he can trust.

[Lejes Rimul]

The more Lebanon shakes Syria off the more powerful Shia Hizbullah will be, relatively. The Lebanese Christians just can't produce babies like the Shia can (foreshadowing Europe in the next few years). It's the devil or the deep blue sea for Israel in this case.

[neverdem]

This is 'astonishing' to the Washington Post?

I think the author means that the former vice president, Abdul Halim Khaddam, is singing this song in public. IIRC, he was denounced as a traitor.

Exile Enrages Syria By Linking Assad To Hariri Assassination

[neverdem]

Israel Sharon Suffers Serious Stroke, Olmert in Power Hemorrhagic stroke is usually the worst kind.

NEW THREAT CHARGE LEVELED VS. SPITZER

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[Alamo-Girl]

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