Posted on 01/12/2002 5:16:58 PM PST by College Repub
Iran using PA as proxy against Israel - senior official
By Herb Keinon
JERUSALEM (January 13) - Iran's involvement in the Karine A arms smuggling affair is part of a larger effort to deter Israel from militarily trying to scuttle Teheran's nuclear program, according to a senior diplomatic official.
According to the official, Iran wants to use the Palestinians as proxies, much as it used Hizbullah as a proxy to wage war against Israel in Lebanon.
"Iran wants a base and stronghold in the PA to threaten Israel," the official said. "They feel the way to counter an Israeli threat to their nuclear program is through the use of terrorism. They feel this will deter any attack on Iran."
In addition to Hizbullah in the North and its developing ties with the PA, the official said there is intelligence showing that, since Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 2000, the Iranians have exploited the "frustration and anger of Israeli Arabs" to gain recruits for intelligence gathering and to funnel money and arms.
The growing Palestinian-Iranian connection figured prominently in a conversation between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday.
According to Sharon's office, the prime minister briefed Putin on the developing ties between Iran and the Palestinians, and Iran's direct involvement in arms smuggling.
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, meanwhile, issued a statement last night saying Iran is the source of world terrorism, adding that everything must be done to make this clear to the world.
"Iran is initiating and funding terror against Israel, and the ayatollahs, who are the source of real power in Iran, call openly for Israel's destruction," said Peres, who added Israel should not underestimate this threat.
Peres wrote UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan two weeks ago to protest against comments made by Iranian leaders calling for Israel's destruction.
Former Iranian president Hashemi Rafsanjani implied last month Israel could be the target of an "Islamic" nuclear attack.
The Iranian connection also came up during Peres's visit last week to India. According to Israeli officials, Iranian fingerprints can also be found on the terrorism facing India.
According to the senior official, the US has evidence of Iranian involvement in the Karine A affair.
The official said evidence of ties with Iran comes at a particularly bad time for the PA, since the US is increasingly seeing Iran as being on the wrong side of the battle against terrorism.
US President George W. Bush warned the Iranians last week against trying to undermine the fledgling interim Afghan government, and US officials said Iran has become a refuge for a number of al-Qaida members.
In his conversation with Putin, Sharon said the PA - in violation of various agreements - continues to try to arm itself with large quantities of weapons.
In a related development, Sharon's office issued a statement last night saying PA claims it has arrested three top officials involved in the Karine A affair were false.
The PA on Friday said it had arrested three men: Fuad Shubaki, a key PA financial figure, and Palestinian Naval Police officers Fathi al-Razem and Adel al-Mughrabi. Last night the Palestinians corrected themselves, saying only Shubaki was being held for questioning, while "arrest warrants" had been issued for the other two.
The Prime Minister's Office said Shubaki was in Ramallah, while the other two are not in PA-controlled areas.
Before being in charge of the financing and supply of the Palestinian Police, Shubaki was in charge of the financial department of Palestinian armed forces in Arab countries. A PA source said he has good connections to Hizbullah and other groups.
"So far we have no evidence linking Shubaki and the others to the smuggling of weapons on the Karine A," the PA source added.
Bassam Abu Sharif, an adviser to Arafat, said Shubaki was placed in "detention for the purpose of investigation."
The order does not necessarily mean that Shubaki would be jailed, nor does it mean that he must be placed under house arrest, the PA source said.
It could also mean that he had to give his identity papers to the Palestinian Police, that his freedom of movement was restricted, and that he has to be available for questioning.
A PA court and investigation committee ordered all three suspects placed under this kind of detention, Abu Sharif said. "It is the first step to gather information, and once there is evidence they will be tried," he said.
Sharon's spokesman, Ra'anan Gissin, said the Palestinian announcements of the arrests and arrest warrants were intended to appease the US.
"They panicked," he said of the PA, "when they realized the [US] president and secretary of state were convinced of the PA's involvement."
(Lamia Lahoud contributed to this report.)
"Pakistan has been proliferating nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and Iraq," Pakistani daily The News has reported, quoting a US journal and added that Islamabad was, "Likely to succeed in modernising its nuclear arsenal with plutonium bombs and produce warheads for its missiles aimed at India and elsewhere."
You don't even have to read the articles. Just read the titles.
"U.S. defense officials said the Shihab-4 will be a breakthrough for Iran. Unlike the Shihab-3, the Shihab-4 will be completely based on Russian technology -- probably that of the SS-4 missile.""U.S. officials said Iran plans to complete the Shihab-4 missile by 2002. They said given that schedule, a test of the Shihab-4 could take place by the end of the year."
"The R-12 was the first Soviet strategic missile using storable propellants and a completely autonomous inertial guidance system. With its capability to deliver a megaton-class nuclear warhead the rocket provided a capability to attack strategic targets at medium ranges. This system constituted the bulk of the Soviet offensive missile threat to Western Europe. It was deployed at both soft launch pads and hard silos."
"One of Iran’s most influential ruling clerics called on the Muslim states to use nuclear weapon against Israel, assuring them that while such an attack would annihilate Israel, it would cost them "damages only".The speech by former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani failed to catch the attention of the western press but made waves in the Middle East.
Israel Accuses Iran Plan to Destroy Jewish State with Nuclear Weapons (12/29/01)
"Mr. Peres says the speech is a clear sign of Iranian hatred for Israel and its declared goal to wipe it out.He is asking for U.N. help in pressuring Iran to give up its nuclear program."
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