German Intelligence Between Israel and Hezbollah
Michel Elbaz, Sami Rosen
Since the beginning of the 1990s, Germany has been carrying out a key role in realization of deals on exchange of prisoners between Israel and the Hezbollah organization. Of five deals concluded between 1991 and 2004, three were prepared by the German mediators. Any other state never managed to establish such an effective secret contact between Hezbollah and Israel. In July 2006 both sides first of all addressed Berlin with the request to arrange the next exchange of captives, after abduction of two Israeli reservists by the Shiite insurgents. According to the general opinion, Germany, by virtue of the former experience and the settled contacts with all participants of the conflict, has biggest chances to make a new deal, though some other countries have been trying to challenge it now, and France was the first to do so. Berlin in its mediatory activity is formally guided by exclusively humanitarian reasons. However, a detailed research of its role in the history of exchange deals between Israel and Hezbollah testifies that mediatory mission, as a rule, had served only as a cover of much more pragmatic purposes. Participation in these deals has been dictated by economic and political aspirations of Berlin in the Middle East, first of all in Iran, its preoccupation by destiny of its own abducted citizens, and also by external and domestic interests of the German intelligence community.
http://www.axisglobe.com/article.asp?article=1018
Iran will expand nukes
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran vowed Sunday to expand its uranium enrichment, defying a U.N. Security Council deadline to suspend its nuclear activities by the end of the month or face the threat of political and economic sanctions.
http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/08072006/worldnation-ph-wn-iran.html
Interesting to find Germany in the middle.
Wish I knew all the stuff that I don't know.