Posted on 12/11/2001 5:02:41 PM PST by knak
December 10, 2001 Iran plotting with Hamas to replace Arafat regime Assassination discussed: Hardliners hope to set up Palestinian Islamic republic
Con Coughlin The Sunday Telegraph
LONDON - Iran has substantially increased its financial support for Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group, in the hope it will succeed in establishing an Islamic regime in the West Bank and Gaza.
The desperate position in which Yasser Arafat, chairman of the Palestinian Authority, finds himself after a series of suicide bombings in Jerusalem and Haifa has led Iran's hardline ayatollahs to conclude there is a realistic possibility Mr. Arafat's regime could be replaced by a Tehran-style theocracy.
Iranian hardliners are so confident of the West Bank and Gaza falling under Hamas control they have even broached the notion of assassinating Mr. Arafat as a means of expediting the Islamic takeover.
Western diplomats based in Syria have been closely monitoring a series of meetings Hamas leaders have attended in recent weeks at the Iranian embassy in Damascus.
The latest took place last Wednesday, when Khaled Mashal, head of Hamas's political bureau, met Hussein Sheikh el-Islam, the Iranian ambassador. According to intelligence reports of the meeting, the outcome was a commitment by the Iranians to increase Tehran's financial support from its current level of $3-million to $18-million a year. The money will be paid to Hamas through front companies in South America.
The Iranian officials also are said to have suggested Hamas should assassinate Mr. Arafat to facilitate the establishment of an Islamic regime to govern the Palestinian-controlled areas.
"The Iranians firmly believe there is now a golden opportunity for Hamas to take control of the West Bank and Gaza,'' a Western diplomat commented last week. "They believe that last weekend's suicide bombings have illustrated that Mr. Arafat can no longer control the Palestinians.''
The Hamas leadership, however, is said to have declined the Iranians' invitation to murder Mr. Arafat, arguing it would be counterproductive to its goals because Mr. Arafat is regarded as an important symbol of the Palestinian cause.
The revelation that the Iranian embassy in Damascus is plotting to influence events in the occupied territories will cause concern in Washington, where George W. Bush, the U.S. President, last month warned Syria it could find itself targeted in the war on terrorism if it did not take effective action to prevent Damascus being used as a base for terrorist operations.
The Iranian embassy in Syria has a long history of involvement in acts of terrorism. In the 1980s, it was used to orchestrate attacks on U.S. targets in Beirut and to control the hostage crisis during which a number of U.S. and British citizens were kidnapped. More recently, it has been used to direct Hezbollah attacks on Israel from southern Lebanon.
Although relations between Hamas and Iran have been strained in the past, security experts believe they have improved during the past year as Hamas has sought support from hardline Islamic states for its attacks on Israel.
Teams of Iran's Revolutionary Guards are reported to have been active in the Palestinian territories for several months. In particular, they are said to be concentrating their energies on collecting information on Mr. Arafat's health, his political position, the scope of funds he holds in banks around the world and his relations with senior members of the Palestinian Authority.
The Iranians are working directly on the orders of Ayatollah Khamanei, Iran's spiritual leader, who has personally approved the increase in funding for Hamas. Two months ago, Ayatollah Khamanei condemned Jack Straw, the British Foreign Secretary, for visiting Tehran in an attempt to win Iran's backing for the war on terrorism.
The article got me thinking that the best next stage in the war on terrorism might be the elimination of the Syrian regime. A lot of positive events could flow from this act. However, recent emphasis on WMD suggests that Iraq is still at the front of the queue.
First, it has been reported (here on FR) that there is much unrest in Iran, that the "little people" are chaffing under islamic rule and there seems to be a revolutionary sentiment to throw off the hard line islamic clerics. Having a revolution in the occupied territories might help them maintain control at home. OTOH, if hamas takes the bait, then the iranian clerics fall, hamas will be SOL big time and will hand Israel the perfect excuse for massive military intervention.
Two: What great American statesman promised that we will divide the terrorists and cause them to fight among themselves? While it is too early to tell, GW is apparently setting the stage for a defeat of fundamentalist islam so breathtaking that my great grand children will never even hear about the movement, perhaps ever again when all this is through.
Either way, the end result is a Palestinian state which, eventually is not run by Arafat. That leaves only Hamas as a solid enough force to take control.
The mood in the west is for an even more autonomous Palestinian state, so Hamas has little concern for threatening the existance of their fiefdom.
PS when this "THEOCRACY" is born the Israelis will kill it within 48 hours MAX AND WITH THE US STATE DEPARTMENTS BLESSING I Predict!!!
1. Hamas is a terroist organization;
2. Iran is publicly supporting and aiding Hamas;
3. President Bush declared war on terrorists, and those who harbor and support them;
4. We are on the verge of wrapping up the problem with respect to Afghanistan.
Am I missing something here?
Does Iran have a death wish?
Or, is it as a fellow freeper so eloquently wrote:
We have met our enemy, and he is a dumbass.
FReegards,
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