The final straw

By Elie Fawaz
March 19, 2008

(IHT)-America is always looking for ways to weaken Hezbollah and end its violent operations. The good news is that Hezbollah may now finally be undermining itself from within.
Trapped between Israel's wrath and the disillusionment of the Lebanese people, the "Party of God" is bringing about its own destruction and damaging its credibility by openly taking on the world.

Last month, Hezbollah announced that its top military commander, Imad Mughniyeh, had been assassinated in Damascus. Mughniyeh had been on the most-wanted lists of 42 countries for his involvement in several high-profile bombings, including attacks that killed more than 200 Americans in Lebanon in the 1980s. After Mughniyeh's death was announced, Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, quickly accused Israel, and vowed vengeance: "You have killed Hajj Imad outside the recognized battle zone," he declared, speaking in front of party militants. "If you want an open war, then let it be an open war."

An open war will leave Hezbollah in shambles and destroy its infrastructure and influence. Any operation from Hezbollah in response to Mugniyeh's assassination will surely be met with a massive Israeli retaliation, with consequences harsher than even the last war. This will not be accepted by the majority of Lebanese who are still struggling to regain their livelihood, and will inevitably lead to a civil war.

Nasrallah, in effect, is caught between two wars: one of Israeli retribution, and the other initiated against him by the outraged Lebanese people.

Rather than serving as a fearsome threat, Nasrallah's proclamation has trapped Hezbollah. In any future confrontation, Israel will not refrain from bombing economic infrastructure and civilians, whose villages Hezbollah guerrilla fighters use as a launching pad for their attacks. As Nasrallah is well aware, this will inflict on Lebanon a price it cannot pay. The balance of fear, which Hezbollah has claimed is tilted in their favor, has been nullified

Hezbollah operates on the theory of intimidation: coerce people and they do what you want. Inspire enough fear and you get a response. Carry out a violent action and you get a reaction. But there is also a law of unintended consequences.

Following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri three years ago, and the end of the 30-year Syrian occupation of Lebanon, the issue of Hezbollah's arms became a hot debate. In the midst of voices calling for the disarmament of Hezbollah and its integration into the Lebanese Army, Nasrallah ordered the abduction of Israeli soldiers along the Lebanon-Israel border.

No one anticipated the severity of Israel's reaction and, by his own admission, Nasrallah confessed that he would never have given the order had he known the consequences.

For more than 33 days in the summer of 2006, the Israeli Army struck military and civilian targets indiscriminately. The outcome was disastrous for Lebanon: More than 900,000 Lebanese were displaced, 1,200 civilians were killed and the economy was paralyzed. Nevertheless, a massive public-relations campaign proclaimed Hezbollah's "divine victory" in the war. Iran offset Shiite rage with enormous infusions of funds into South Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs.

This war consummated the divorce between Hezbollah and the majority of Lebanese. Since then, domestic tensions in Lebanon have gradually risen to the brink of an explosion. Violence has erupted in the streets of Beirut between Hezbollah's opponents and its supporters. As a result, the image and aura of Nasrallah, which he tried to forge for himself and his party along inter-communal lines, has become a thing of the past.

Today the Party of God is out of options. By trying to avenge the murder of the party's military commander, Nasrallah would bring disaster upon Lebanon and the Shiite community. He cannot deliver on his vow to wage an open war and will have to backtrack on his threats.

What the international community needs to do now is to capitalize on Hezbollah's troubles by strengthening Lebanon's moderate, democratic forces and the authority of their central government. America should seize this opportunity to undercut the influence of an organization that has the blood of many people on its hands. Time is of the essence. (IHT)

'Untouchable' Hezbollah emerges victorious

Analysts say Lebanese cabinet’s climbdown is coup for Hezbollah, slap in face of US policy in Mideast. By Jocelyne Zablit -Beirut-Middleast Online

The Lebanese cabinet's climbdown in its latest showdown with Hezbollah marks a major victory for the Shiite Muslim militant group and a slap in the face for US policy in the region, analysts said.
"This climbdown is a major retreat, not only for the government but the US agenda in Lebanon," Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, a political analyst and specialist on Hezbollah, said.
"It empowers the opposition... and basically shows that force is the only way of dealing with the government."
Osama Safa, head of the Lebanese Centre for Policy Studies, said the reversal for the government set a "dangerous precedent," adding: "This means that in the future the opposition could resort to the same violence or threaten to do so.
"The government has been weakened to irrelevance by actions on the street. It is fast becoming a lame duck."
Both Saad-Ghorayeb and Safa said it was likely the government, which is backed by the United States and regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia, would agree to proposals by Arab foreign ministers for continued negotiations in Qatar given their weakened position.
"This is probably a truce that might be prolonged until we go to meaningful negotiations in a country that plays more music to the ears of the opposition," Safa said, referring to Qatar, which unlike Saudi Arabia and Egypt, is considered close to the opposition.
Added Saad-Ghorayeb: "The fact that the Qataris will be heading those talks, and with Qatar favouring the opposition, this is a major blow to the US."
Last week's violence, which left at least 65 people dead and 200 wounded, was sparked by the government's decision to probe a telecommunication network set up by Hezbollah and to reassign the head of security at Beirut airport on suspicions he was close to the group.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said the measures amounted to a declaration of war and within hours his fighters and Shiite allies had taken over Sunni areas of west Beirut, overrunning supporters of the government of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora.
The takeover of west Beirut was a dramatic display of Hezbollah's military might and sparked Lebanon's worst sectarian violence since the 1990 end of the civil war.
Although the opposition withdrew at the weekend after the army moved in, it refused to lift its blockade on Beirut airport and end a civil disobedience campaign until the government revoked its measures against Hezbollah and returned to the negotiating table.
The airport blockade was set to be lifted later on Thursday following the government's climbdown.
Patrick Haenni, of Brussels-based think-tank, the International Crisis Group, said that last week's events were important in that they marked the crossing of two red lines.
"The government for the first time took a concrete measure against Hezbollah's arms, which were untouchable," he said.
"And Hezbollah's response was very clear. It did not carry out a coup d'etat but delivered an extremely powerful political message."
Nadim Shehadi, a Lebanon specialist at London-based think-tank Chatham House, said all eyes will now be on how the two sides go about relaunching negotiations on an Arab League initiative to end their 18-month-old standoff which has left the country without a president since November.
The Arab initiative calls for the election of army chief General Michel Sleiman as a compromise candidate for president, the formation of a national unity government and the drawing up of a new electoral law for parliamentary polls due next year.
Although all parties agree on Sleiman's election, the opposition has insisted on a blocking minority in the new government. Both sides also disagree on the new electoral law.
"I think what matters now is how Hezbollah and the government translate the military gains and losses into political ones," Shehadi said . "It is possible that Hezbollah will lose alot politically from this military victory.
"They became an occupation, not a resistance," he added. "They turned their arms against the country."

Israel: Hezbollah dramatically increases rocket range

click to enlarge


Mar. 27 2008-The Associated Press

JERUSALEM -- With Iranian backing, Hezbollah guerrillas have dramatically increased their rocket range and can now threaten most of Israel, senior Israeli defense officials said Thursday.

The Lebanese group has acquired new Iranian rockets with a range of about 185 miles, the officials said. That means the guerrillas can hit anywhere in Israel's heavily populated center and reach as far south as Dimona, where Israel's nuclear reactor is located.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to divulge the confidential intelligence assessment to the media.

When Israel and Hezbollah fought a monthlong war in 2006, Hezbollah fired nearly 4,000 rockets into Israel. The longest-range rockets fired, which Israel said were Iranian-made, hit some 45 miles inside Israel.

Although Israel's air force managed to take out most of the group's long-range rockets, the military failed throughout the war to halt the short-range rocket fire that paralyzed northern Israel and killed 40 Israeli civilians.

After the war, the UN dispatched a peacekeeping force to distance Hezbollah from the border and prevent the group from rearming. But Israel says Hezbollah's Iranian and Syrian patrons have steadily provided the group with large amounts of rockets since then, many of them capable of hitting central Israel. However, it has not revealed the evidence for its claims.

Hezbollah and UN peacekeeping officials were not immediately available for comment.

The defense officials did not say how many of the new rockets Hezbollah has obtained. However, Israelis have said previously that overall, Hezbollah now has many more rockets in its arsenal than the 14,000 it had before the conflict -- likely more than double that number.

In early March, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reported Israeli claims that Hezbollah's arsenal includes 10,000 long-range rockets and 20,000 short-range rockets in southern Lebanon.

Israel also faces near-daily rocket barrages in the south from Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, ruled by the Islamic group Hamas. The rockets from Gaza, mainly crude short-range projectiles, have killed 13 Israelis since 2001. Like Hezbollah, Hamas has strong ties to Iran.

(Source)

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Israël sera bientôt "détruit" par le Hezbollah, selon un responsable iranien

TEHERAN (AFP) — Le chef des Gardiens de la révolution iranienne, le général Mohammad Ali Jafari, a prédit la prochaine "destruction" d'Israël par le Hezbollah libanais, a rapporté lundi l'agence iranienne Fars.

"Dans un avenir proche, nous assisterons à la destruction du microbe cancéreux qu'est Israël par les mains puissantes des combattants du Hezbollah", a affirmé le général Jafari, qui dirige l'armée idéologique du régime iranien.

Il a tenu ces propos dans un message de "condoléances pour le martyre d'Imad Moughnieh", adressé au chef du Hezbollah chiite Hassan Nasrallah. Moughnieh, chef des opérations armées du Hezbollah, a été tué le 12 février dans un attentat à la voiture piégée à Damas.

"Le martyre de ce combattant cher et dévoué va sans aucun doute renforcer la détermination de tous les musulmans révolutionnaires, en particulier ceux qui combattent (...) le régime sioniste", a-t-il ajouté.

Le Hezbollah et l'Iran, réputé avoir parrainé la création du mouvement libanais, ont mis en cause Israël qui a démenti sans toutefois cacher sa satisfaction pour la disparition de Moughnieh.

Pour le général Jafari, les terres libanaise et palestinienne verront se "former des centaines et des milliers d'Imad".

Imad Moughnieh était recherché depuis une vingtaine d'années par Interpol, les Etats-Unis et Israël pour une série d'attentats et d'enlèvements.

La semaine dernière, le ministre syrien des Affaires étrangères Walid Mouallem a déclaré que Damas présenterait prochainement des "preuves tangibles" sur les auteurs de l'assassinat de Imad Moughnieh, sans accuser une partie quelconque.

Lors des funérailles de Moughnieh le 14 février dans la banlieue sud de Beyrouth auxquelles a assisté le chef de la diplomatie iranienne Manouchehr Mottaki, Hassan Nasrallah a déclaré une "guerre ouverte" à l'Etat hébreu.

"Vous avez assassiné en dehors du territoire naturel, vous avez dépassé les frontières", a-t-il dit, devant des dizaines de milliers de partisans, menaçant implicitement les Israéliens de faire l'objet de représailles à l'extérieur de leur territoire.

Dimanche, le ministre israélien de la Défense, Ehud Barak, a affirmé que le Hezbollah pourrait riposter contre Israël avec l'aide de Damas, un autre allié du Hezbollah, et Téhéran.

"Il (le Hezbollah) pourrait agir avec l'aide de l'Iran et de la Syrie. Israël n'a aucun intérêt à une escalade, mais s'y prépare, à la lumière des derniers évènements", a-t-il dit.

Israël a dit prendre au sérieux les menaces du Hezbollah. Il a ainsi mis son armée en état d'alerte surtout sur la frontière nord, avec le Liban, lancé des appels à ses ressortissants à l'étranger à prendre des précautions exceptionnelles et renforcé la sécurité de ses représentations diplomatiques.

Le guide suprême iranien l'ayatollah Ali Khamenei et le président iranien Mahmoud Ahmadinejad avaient tous les deux adressé des messages de condoléances au chef du Hezbollah après la mort de Moughnieh.

Sheik Nasrallah criticizes Britain's ban on Hezbollah

Wed, 02 Jul 2008

London/Beirut - Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the chief of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah movement, on Wednesday said Britain's decision to add Hezbollah to its list of banned terrorist organisations "is not surprising."

"This decision is a (source of) great pride for us and a medal on our chests," he said told a press conference in Beirut's southern suburbs.
"Such a decision is proof that we are on the right track and backing and supporting our people," he said.
Earlier Wednesday, Britain's Home Office said the government has added the military wing of the Hezbollah, Lebanon's leading opposition party, to the list of banned terrorist organizations.
Hezbollah's external security organization was already included on the list, drawn up under counter-terror legislation passed in 2000, but it has now been replaced by a ban on the party's entire military structure, state secretary Tony McNulty said.
"We have always considered Britain as a main backer and a founder of the Zionist state (Israel)," Nasrallah said.
Britain, he added, had hosted Salman Rushdie, the author of the controversial Satanic Verses in which he had "tried to defame Islam".
Inclusion on the list - which features 45 international terror groups - makes it a criminal offence in Britain to be a member of that organization, or to raise funds or to encourage support for it.
McNulty said the ban does not apply to the political, social or humanitarian activities of Hezbollah.
"Hezbollah's military wing is providing active support to militants in Iraq who are responsible for attacks both on coalition forces and on Iraqi civilians, including providing training in the use of deadly roadside bombs," he said.
"Hezbollah's military wing also provides support to Palestinian terrorist groups in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad," McNulty noted.
"It is because of this support for terrorism in Iraq and Occupied Palestinian Territories that the government has taken this action. Proscription of Hezbollah's military wing will not affect the legitimate political, social and humanitarian role Hezbollah plays in Lebanon, but it sends out a clear message that we condemn Hezbollah's violence and support for terrorism," he said. (TheEarthTimes)

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Hizbullah: Thank you for your patience

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Hezbollah rearms

While world attention is focused on the fighting between Israel and the Hamas regime in Gaza, Hezbollah has quietly been rebuilding its military arsenal in Lebanon, much of which was destroyed in the terror group's 2006 war with Israel. Last month U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon issued a report noting without rebuttal Israeli government claims that Hezbollah continues to rearm and has an arsenal containing 10,000 long-range rockets and 20,000 short-range rockets in Southern Lebanon. He also noted that Hezbollah has admitted smuggling weapons from Iran and Syria into Lebanon and expressed concern about threats of open war by the group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

Now, Israel estimates the number of rockets in Hezbollah's possession has climbed to 42,000 — the overwhelming majority of them easily concealed short-range weapons which were used to devastating effect by Hezbollah against Israel in the summer 2006 war. Israel estimates that as many as several hundred of these rockets are Iranian-made long-range weapons with a range of up to 185 miles — enough to reach anywhere in Israel's heavily populated central heartland and targets as far south as Dimona, the location of Israel's nuclear reactor.

For months, Mr. Nasrallah has been warning Israel that Hezbollah has a "surprise" new weapon in its arsenal; many Lebanese believe he is referring to a ground-to-air missile that would challenge for the first time the Israel Air Force's supremacy in the skies over Lebanon. Robert Fisk, a Lebanon-based reporter for The Independent newspaper, reports that in southern Lebanon up to 300 young Lebanese men each month travel to Beirut and on to Tehran. As many as 4,500 of these Hezbollah members have been sent to Iran for three-month military training sessions with rockets and live-fire ammunition since November 2006. The goal is to train a cadre of guerrillas for the next war between Hezbollah and Israel.

The United Nations condemns Israel for violating Lebanon's sovereignty by conducting overflights of Lebanese territory. Israel, for its part, responds that if it did not conduct such surveillance, it would be unable to monitor the continuing smuggling of weapons into Hezbollah from Tehran and Damascus. In recent weeks, Israeli officials have met with officials from European Union and NATO countries to warn them about Iranian efforts to transfer long-range missiles to Hezbollah. In particular, Israel is concerned about efforts to smuggle weapons through Turkish airspace and overland disguised as civilian cargo. Once again, Israel and Iran (through its terrorist surrogates) appear to be on a collision course. (Washington Times-April 25, 2008 )

War drums beat harder on Lebanon Israel border

Tuesday, 11 March, 2008 @ 5:53 PM-Beirut
(Yalibnan)

Hezbollah is all set for a new confrontation with the Jewish state, a senior defense official told Israel's Ynet News, adding that the Shiite group has completed its military and logistics preparations for war.


Hezbollah's preparations, according to Ynet News, reinforce the intelligence estimate that a confrontation in northern Israel is "closer than a wide-scale" conflict in the Gaza Strip. "This may be one of the reasons why the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) is not rushing into a comprehensive operation in Gaza," Ynet News said.

It said senior defense officials, including Defense Minister Ehud Barak, admitted several months ago that in terms of Hezbollah's rocket arsenal, the group has "closed the gaps" created after the 2006 summer war.

The annual intelligence review presented to Israeli cabinet ministers Sunday by officials from the Shin Bet internal security service, Military Intelligence and the Mossad, said the likelihood for a broad military operation against Hamas in 2008 was slim, according to Ynet News.
It said, however, the possibility that Hezbollah might "resume its violent acts against Israel" is higher than the prospect of an escalation on other fronts.

"An escalation on one front may lead to a similar situation on additional fronts," Ynet News said on its website.
It said Hezbollah fighters are closely monitoring movements by the Israeli army along the border with Lebanon.
It said Hezbollah's plans "focus both on the activity in southern Lebanon and in the Bekaa Valley."
"Another estimate is that Hezbollah has decided to carry out a terror attack" in response to the assassination of the party's top commander Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus Feb. 12, Ynet News wrote.

"Although there is no evidence that Israel was involved in the killing, the organization (Hezbollah) will seek to respond at the first opportunity it gets," Ynet News said.
"These estimates illustrate the risk in an escalation on the northern front this year, as expressed in the intelligence briefing presented to the cabinet," it added.
It said Israeli troops were "preparing for such a possibility," undergoing excessive exercises both among soldiers in compulsory service and among reserve forces.

Syria

According to intelligence reports Syria intends to focus on Hamas during the upcoming summit in Damascus and Lebanon will be left off the agenda. Syria's plan calls for igniting the Gaza front to unite the Arab leaders (who were reluctant to show up at the summit) behind a dramatic Arab resolution in support of the Palestinian Islamists. This tactic would transfer the Gaza issue' s center of gravity from Cairo, which is brokering a Hamas-Israel ceasefire deal, to the radical regime in Damascus and will at the same time overshadow the Lebanese crises.

The presence of the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who will be seated next to Bashar al Assad as a guest of honor will add fuel to the fire in Gaza and Lebanon according to the intelligence reports .
The plan also calls for Hezbollah to step in and support Hamas by attacking Israel on the Lebanese Syrian borders.

According to the intelligence reports the coming two weeks will witness more military build ups by Syria, Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas in preparation for the flare up in Gaza on or around March 29. (Yalibnan)

Read also "Hizbollah buys frontier land to attack Israel" (The Daily Telegraph)

Spokesman for the French Socialist Party detained and interrogated by Hizbullah

Poster showing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah along the highway towards Beirut airport

Hezbollah armed men allegedly interrogate French dignitary

Sunday, 27 April, 2008

Beirut, Lebanon - Armed men suspected to be members of Hezbollah, detained and interrogated a delegate from France in the party's stronghold in south Beirut.

The French delegate, (who) was attending the Socialist International meeting in Beirut, was touring the capital in a convertible car, (and) was at the time taking pictures of posters showing Hezbollah "martyrs" who died in combat.

The incident was reported by a senior member of Walid Jumblatt's Progressive Socialist Party, Wael Abou Faour.
French delegate Karim Pakzad was on the airport road when a motorcyclist followed by a four wheel-drive car carrying armed men stopped him and interrogated him, Abou Faour said.

The road leading to the airport is in a zone dominated by Hizbullah.
Jumblatt, a key leader of the anti-Syrian majority, plans to hold a press conference early Sunday to explain the circumstances surrounding the incident, Abou Faour said.
The Socialist International was holding a two-day conference in Beirut for its Mediterranean Committee. In its final statement, the committee called for the immediate election of a president. (YaLibnan)

UPDATE

BEIRUT, April 27, 2008 (AFP) - A French delegate to a Socialist International meeting in Beirut said on Sunday that he had been briefly detained the previous day by armed men linked to Hezbollah. Delegate Karim Pakzad told a Beirut news conference that he was stopped on Saturday by armed men who "spoke on behalf of Hezbollah" -- Lebanon's powerful Shiite militant movement -- who questioned him for five hours before freeing him. Pakzad said it happened as he was touring the capital in an open-top car with a Lebanese friend and taking pictures of a mosque along the airport road, near Hezbollah's stronghold in Beirut's southern suburbs. "Armed men asked us 'why do you have a camera' and 'what are you doing here,'" before viewing the pictures he had taken with his digital camera, Pakzad said. He was taken blindfolded to an unidentified location where he was kept isolated for five hours, adding that his captors took away his cell phone, wallet and medicine. Contacted by AFP, Hezbollah said it had no immediate information about the incident. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is Israel's public enemy number one and the movement operates stringent security measures in its Beirut stronghold requiring even press photographers to seek prior permission.

Saudi clerics blast Hezbollah

Saudi clerics accuse Shiites of destabilizing Muslim countries, blast Hezbollah

The Associated Press
Published: June 1, 2008

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia: Hardline Sunni clerics accused Shiites Sunday of destabilizing Muslim countries and humiliating Sunnis, just days before a Muslim interfaith conference called by Saudi Arabia's king.
The attacks on Iran, Iraq and Hezbollah — though contrary to official policy — highlight the sharp, growing distrust between Islam's two arms, and its potential to cause more unrest.
In a strongly worded statement, the 22 clerics savaged the Iranian-backed Shiite Hezbollah in Lebanon, saying it has tricked Muslims into believing it is against Jews and Americans.
The statement appeared on several Web sites Sunday, including al-Moslim, which is run by Sheik Nasser al-Omar, one of the signatories. The 22 clerics are known for their radical views and have previously released virulent ant-Shiite statements.
A Saudi official told The Associated Press that the clerics who issued the statement do not represent the official Saudi religious establishment, and their views do not reflect those adopted by the government. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

But the clerics' anti-Shiite diatribe reflect growing Sunni distrust of Shiites and Iran. A trend that surfaced with the sectarian unrest in Iraq over the past years and then escalated dramatically after Hezbollah, in a show of force, overran predominantly Sunni areas of Beirut last month.
Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader Ayman al-Zawahri has accused Iran in recent messages of seeking to extend its power in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq and through its Hezbollah allies in Lebanon.
In their statement the clerics accused Shiites of abusing Sunnis under their control.
"If they (Shiites) have a country, they humiliate and exert control in their rule over Sunnis, such as the case in Iran and Iraq," said the clerics. "They sow strife, corruption and destruction among Muslims and destabilize security in Muslim countries ... such as Yemen."
The Yemeni government is engaged in a fight against rebels from the al-Zaydi sect of Shiite Islam and officials in Yemen and Saudi Arabia suspect Iran of supporting the insurgency.
"Despite all of that, many Muslim intellectuals as well as the masses have been deceived by (Shiite) claims ... of enmity toward Jews and Americans, which is what happened with the claims of the so-called Hezbollah in Lebanon," the statement added.
Najib al-Khonaizi, a Saudi Shiite writer, called the statement "dangerous" and damaging to national unity.
"This statement in its essence is a cheap call for incitement against the different other," he told the AP. Shiites make up an estimated 10-15 percent of Saudi Arabia's 22 million people
The statement is potentially embarrassing for the government because it comes a few days before the opening of a much-touted Muslim interfaith conference in the holy city of Mecca that aims at closing Muslim ranks and discussing dialogue with other faiths. Over 500 Islamic scholars, including reportedly former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani, are expected to attend the three-day conference, which begins Wednesday.
The event is the first step of a wider interfaith dialogue between Muslims and adherents of other religions, notably Christians and Jews, that King Abdullah called for a few months ago.
Saudi Arabia, which follows the severe Wahhabi interpretation of Sunni Islam that considers Shiites infidels, together with other Arab countries, is worried by the growing regional influence of Iran's Shiite government and its allies in Iraq, the Palestinian territories and Lebanon.
The 2003 U.S-led war to topple Saddam Hussein's Sunni-run regime in Iraq has rekindled the centuries-old divide between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, especially after the oppressed Shiites largely supported the U.S. invasion.
The historic split, which resulted from a succession dispute after Prophet Muhammad's death in 632, suddenly took on very modern relevance as Sunni extremists began targeting Shiites allied with the U.S. in Iraq, who retaliated with death squad killings of their own.
As the numbers of Sunnis killed by shadowy Shiite death squads in Iraq mounted, outrage grew around the region, reaching its peak when tensions between Lebanon's sects flared into gun battles in May.
Some Arab media outlets and Web sites have portrayed the Lebanese street fights as a Shiite incursion against Sunnis — a claim Hezbollah has denied. They have also said that Hezbollah and its leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, have lost the admiration they won across the Arab world when the group bombarded northern Israel with nearly 4,000 rockets during a 34-day war with Israel in summer 2006.
"Today, more than 200 million Arabs see him (Nasrallah) as fighting the Sunni enemy," wrote Abdul-Rahman al-Rashed, head of the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV, in Asharq al-Awsat newspaper a week after violence erupted in Lebanon.
"Nasrallah ... has pushed the region into a Sunni-Shiite conflict for at least the next 10 years, not only in Lebanon but also in the rest of the Arab and perhaps Islamic world," he added. "Millions of Sunnis feel that he has gone too far in humiliating Sunnis." (IHT)

In the Name of Hezbollah: Al-Manar TV

Written by Damian Penny (Link)
Published October 04, 2008

Say what you will about Al-Manar, but you cannot accuse the Beirut-based TV channel of having a hidden agenda...

...Al-Manar makes no bones about the fact that it serves to promote the interests of its patron: Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed, rabidly anti-Israel militia which has established a de facto fiefdom in much of Lebanon. In the documentary In the Name of Hezbollah: Al-Manar TV, one station employee is asked whether Hezbollah's guns or its TV programs are more effective at fighting the hated Israelis. "The clips help the gun," he responds.

In the Name of Hezbollah, originally made for French television (and presented on DVD with English subtitles) was made with surprising cooperation from Al-Manar and its employees, and it's deeply unnerving to see the channel's modern equipment and skilled, professional-looking staff making loaded, often blatantly anti-Semitic propaganda...

Israeli victims are also occasionally shown, but only with Hebrew subtitles informing the "Zionists" that they cannot defeat Hezbollah and the Palestinians. Still, the Palestinians and Lebanese make up the bulk of Al-Manar's audience, and while some viewers dismiss the channel as one-sided propaganda (one Palestinian says the Israeli TV networks have better news coverage), it has found a very devoted audience.
In the Name of Hezbollah is not a perfect documentary - in particular, the film grinds to a halt when a French academic is dragged in to point out things the viewer will already have noticed - but it is an eye-opening look at how Islamic extremists are spreading their message. Outside of the Middle East, Al-Manar has created controversy wherever satellite TV providers have made it available, but a part of me wonders whether people in the West should be encouraged to watch the station, so we can see what Hezbollah and its allies really stand for.

Intelligence officers: Hezbollah may strike Israel via another group

By Yuval Azoulay

Wed., April 02, 2008 Adar2 27, 5768

Hezbollah may try to carry out an attack in the North with the help of another paramilitary organization, which can provide it with deniability, intelligence officers told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense committee yesterday.

"We clearly identify a great deal of activity among Hezbollah," the intelligence officers said. "It is growing stronger on all levels, improving its systems, its units and is receiving a great deal of weapons and missiles for medium and long distances. Hezbollah is readying itself for an escalation that may break out in the North as a result of an operation against Israel. We are not discounting any possibility - there are assessments that they may carry out an operation in the North through another organization," the officers told the MKs.

Responding to a question on the presence of long-range missiles in the Hezbollah arsenal south of the Litani river, the intelligence officers said that "Hezbollah is operating in southern Lebanon, mostly in the villages, in secret and in civilian garb." Yesterday Defense Minister Ehud Barak and deputy Chief of Staff Dan Harel visited the northern border, accompanied by GOC Northern Command, Major General Gadi Eisenkut.

"We are looking at this calm and quiet view, but we know that underground there is a great deal of activity," Barak said yesterday. Echoing the intelligence analysis he said that "Hezbollah is growing more powerful, but so are we and we are following developments. Meanwhile, Hezbollah is deterred but we are on guard, there is daily activity of combat troops and we are learning the lessons of the last war. Israel is the strongest country in the region, and I would not recommend that any one from the other side of the border test us." (HAARETZ)

Israeli D.M. warns Hezbollah against taking revenge

JERUSALEM, April 1 (Xinhua)

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak Tuesday warned Lebanon's Shiite militant group Hezbollah against taking any revenge measures for the killing of its senior commander Imad Mughniyeh, which Hezbollah believes was perpetrated by Israel.

Barak voiced the warning while speaking to Israeli soldiers during a tour of the country's northern border, local daily Jerusalem Post reported.

"Israel is the strongest country in the region and I wouldn't recommend that anyone provoke us," Barak was quoted by local daily Jerusalem Post as telling the soldiers there.

Hezbollah is becoming stronger and so is Israel, Barak said, noting that the Israel Defense Forces is prepared for all eventualities.

"Hezbollah is currently refraining from firing but has not stopped hatching plans in the entire area," he added. "Hezbollah's activity continues and we continue to monitor the activity and deployment of the organization."

Barak called on Israeli soldiers to maintain vigilance, saying that they must be alert at all times and ready to respond quickly.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed on March 8 that the country would achieve deterrence against terror groups as it had done against Hezbollah.

Olmert made the remarks while speaking on the occasion of the International Women's Day in a Tel Aviv suburb.

Mughniyeh was assassinated on Feb. 12 in a car bomb in the Syrian capital of Damascus. After the assassination, Hezbollah blamed Israel for having carried out the strike and vowed to hit Jewish targets outside Israel in retaliation.

The Israeli government has denied any involvement in the death of Mughniyeh.

Read also "Barak warns Hizbullah: 'I wouldn't recommend that anyone provoke us" (JP)

Hezbollah landline network uncovered

Saida

The Lebanese daily Al-Mustaqbal said that Hezbollah’s private network of landlines is no longer restricted to southern villages and the border with Israel, but also exists in the city of Saida.
According to the daily, Hezbollah tried to benefit from a Japanese-funded rehabilitation project implemented by the Arab Company for Civil Services that was carried out in cooperation with regional municipalities and stretches 48 kilometers to the caza of Jezzine and Iqlim Al-Touffeh.

Hezbollah members working at night caught the attention of citizens who called the Lebanese army and security forces.
An investigation of the location revealed that Hezbollah was trying to set up a network of landlines. The work was put on hold for some time, and no additional information is available.

The daily reported talk about the existence of a network that has already been set up in the ancient area of the city, but it remains unclear whether it was established in coordination with the city or any other faction.
An official from the telephone company Ogero confirmed that Hezbollah is setting up private landlines in some regions and is using state-owned cables in other regions.
A well-informed political source told the daily that Hezbollah has strengthened its landline network and is using sophisticated technology that enables it to tap the calls of the Lebanese army and security services.

“Hezbollah is able to tap more than 80% of landlines and cellular phone lines. It is possible that the party is also taping the calls from the Grand Serial from its tents in downtown Beirut,” the source told the daily. (NowLebanon)

Israel Is Preparing for War…What about Us?

07/04/08// Dar Al-Hayat

If the Israeli military maneuvers are not directed at Syria, Lebanon or even Hezbollah, as the assurances by Minister of Defense Ehud Barak go, then who are they directed at?

Obviously, Israel considers itself to be in a perpetual state of war, and consequently, it has to be in a continuous state of preparedness. The July 2006 experience was painful. The Hebrew State may have been taken by surprise at the time, and its military morale has suffered a blow from the traditional perspective of military superiority it boasts of. Yet, Israel has benefited politically from that experience, and probably militarily as well. It has assessed its areas of weakness through a substantial investigation conducted by its judicial institutions into the failures of the army and the stumbling political decision. It also asserted the need to be ready for all possibilities, both at the northern and north-eastern fronts, hence the slogan of the current maneuvers, "Protection lies in preparedness."
The war games include preparing Israelis for traditional attacks, such as the Katyusha missile attacks launched by Hezbollah or attacks by missiles equipped with chemical heads or perhaps even nuclear heads, which alarms Israel in particular in the event of a potential Iranian strike, especially given Ahmedinejad's repeated threats to "wipe Israel off the map." The war games also include mobilizing hospitals and emergency wards, taking precautionary measures in schools and municipalities, in addition of course to the conventional precautionary measures at the ministries and public institutions.
Amidst the preparations by the "strongest country in the region" as Barak described Israel while highlighting the need to prepare the backlines for the confrontation as "an essential element to achieve victory," we cannot but ask about the preparedness of Israel's enemies, the extent to which they have benefited from the 2006 confrontation from which they allegedly emerged victorious, and the manner in which they are preparing for upcoming possibilities.

In the Lebanese context, for example, let us compare the status of Hezbollah's "backlines" in 2006, especially with respect to the almost full popular support for Hezbollah and the army in the July 2006 war even when questions were raised about the lack of coordination in the attack on Israeli soldiers at the border, with its current state today given the domestic disintegration and fragmentation considered the natural outcome of the failure to positively exploit that confrontation as part of a national project instead of employing it in sectarian and factional arenas.
This new state is supposed to invoke a more realistic discourse than the speech used by Hezbollah's deputy Hussein Hajj Hassan who announced that "war games do not intimidate or scare us, and our people, the resistance, and the army are at the highest levels of preparedness." The resistance whose voice is represented by Hajj Hassan may be ready, but are the people ready? Is the army ready, especially after the declaration of its commander that he is leaving his post as a result of the political maneuvers to which he has been exposed without implementing the agreement over his nomination for the presidency?

As far as Israel's other enemy, Syria, is concerned, clear Israeli statements were made by Prime Minister Olmert in addition to Barak and his deputy Matan Vilnai, to assure Syria that there were no reasons to be concerned, "and they know this" according to Olmert, which implies that backchannels are sufficient to deliver assurances more effectively than explicit channels.
What reinforces the "assurances" that the Israeli war games are not directed at Syria is that two major breaches characterized as strategic in the military security sense have remained unanswered. The first was the strike directed at a military base in Deir al-Zur last September. According to the Israeli press, the details and the nature of the target attacked will be announced by American officials during a Congressional hearing on April 17th. The second was targeting Hezbollah's military leader, Imad Mughniyyeh, in the heart of Damascus. While Hezbollah has accused Israel of the assassination, Syrian officials have been reluctant to make such an accusation in "haste" and announced an investigation into the circumstances of the assassination.

The northern front is internally fragmented and cracked, and the north-eastern front is assured or assuring. Who then is the target of these Israeli war games?

Sheikh Qassem: 'Hezbollah still seeking revenge on Israel'

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 04:28:21 Press TV

A senior Hezbollah official says the prisoner swap will not avert vengeance, saying Israel should pay a high price for Mugniyah's assassination.

Speaking to Qatari daily Al-Arab on Saturday, Hezbollah Secretary General Deputy Sheikh Naim Qassem said prisoner swap deal with Israel revealed the party's potential to unite the whole nation in securing national goals that had long been refused by the Israelis. Turning to the assassination of the movement's commander, Imad Mugniyah, Sheik Qassem said that the prisoner swap deal with Israel will not avert his revenge. He also added that Lebanon is still in a state of war with Israel as the regime continues to undermine the country's sovereignty. Qassem also stressed that Hezbollah supports any plans that lead to understanding, unity and consensus between the Lebanese factions. He said Hezbollah is ready to open up a new chapter in dealing with other factions to help support national unity government. "When I stand side by side with Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, this indicates our readiness to open a new page," he pointed out. On the defensive strategy, Sheikh Qassem reiterated once again Hezbollah's readiness to discuss it 'with an open mind,' saying that the party will abide by any agreements reached through dialogue. "The coming days would prove that we are ready for any sound logic that leads to the creation of a capable, strong and just state," Hezbollah deputy leader declared. He also said that the group has 'no reservations' over restoring talks with Saad Hariri's Mustaqbal Movement, saying further dialogue and meetings will help achieve more understanding between the two.

Lebanese PM describes Hezbollah behavior "Shameful"

BEIRUT, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese prime minister-designate Fouad Seniora hinted to Hezbollah's reactions regarding Israeli withdrawal from Shebaa farms as "shameful", local Elnashra website reported Friday.
"Some factions behave as if they want Israel to remain in Lebanon, this is shameful", Seniora told reporters without mentioning Hezbollah by name.
"Why should we behave as if we are scared that Israel is pulling out of the farms", he added.
His statement was in reply to Hezbollah reaction Thursday, regarding efforts by the Lebanese government to achieve an Israeli withdrawal from Shebaa farms, south of Lebanon, by placing them under UN auspices.
Hezbollah had made it clear Thursday saying that it will not give up its arms even if Israel pulls out of the disputed Shebaa farms.
Hezbollah was the only Lebanese group which did not hand over its weapons in 1989, according to the Taef accord which ended Lebanon's 15 years of civil war.
Hezbollah has been holding on to its arms under the pretext of resisting Israel, and until all Lebanese territories are liberated.

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6 years in prison for airing Hezbollah TV in NYC

The Associated Press April 24, 2009

A Pakistani immigrant described by prosecutors as "Hezbollah's man in New York City" was sentenced Thursday to nearly six years in prison for airing the militant group's television station.
U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman handed down a sentence of five years and nine months to Javed Iqbal, who had pleaded guilty in December to providing aid to a terrorist organization.
Iqbal, 45, admitted as part of a plea agreement that he used satellite dishes on his Staten Island home to distribute broadcasts of Al Manar, the TV station of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah, which has been fighting Israel since the early 1980s and has been branded by the U.S. government as a terrorist group.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Snyder said Iqbal recruited Al Manar, even traveling to "the belly of the beast, South Beirut," to meet with its general manager.
"He was, in a very real sense, Hezbollah's man in New York City," Snyder said.
Snyder said Iqbal bought special satellite equipment to allow Al Manar to provide 24-hour programming from November 2005 through May 2006 so Hezbollah could use it to recruit followers and suicide bombers. Prosecutors said Iqbal's business was paid $28,000 monthly for at least five months for airing the station to its North American customers.
Iqbal's lawyer, Josh Dratel, said his client didn't intend to aid Hezbollah as he tried to build his Brooklyn-based satellite television company, HDTV Limited.
Dratel called the airing of Al Manar "one discreet and narrow aspect" of an otherwise legitimate broadcasting company that also aired Christian programming, adult entertainment, a Jamaican channel and a gay and lesbian channel.
Before Iqbal was sentenced, he had Dratel read aloud a statement he had written. The statement said that he did not make any profit by airing Al Manar and that the resulting criminal charges had "hurt me financially, emotionally and physically."
It asked for leniency from the judge.
In court papers, Dratel argued that Iqbal does not possess any ideology sympathetic to terrorism or other political doctrine, and he noted that one of HDTV's partners was a city police officer.
"He is a businessman and sought to provide services he thought would generate profits," Dratel wrote.
Iqbal, who has lived in the U.S. for more than 20 years, will most likely be deported once he has completed his prison sentence, Dratel said. Iqbal, a former car mechanic, is married with five children and a sixth child due in July.
The August 2006 arrest of Iqbal initially sparked a First Amendment battle, with claims by his lawyers that he was no different from major news companies and Internet providers, some of which permit live streaming broadcasts of Al Manar. But the arguments were rejected by the court, and there was no mention of the First Amendment at the sentencing.
Hezbollah recently has taken a moderate tone before Lebanon's June 7 parliamentary elections.

(Source)

IRAN READY TO HIT UK

Sunday July 13,2008

By Jason Groves

Sunday Express

IRAN is poised to launch terror attacks in Britain if the West presses ahead with military strikes against its nuclear facilities, intelligence experts warned last night.

As tensions in the Middle East continued to grow, they warned that the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah had already established sleeper cells in Britain and mainland Europe tasked with carrying out bloody reprisals.

Likely UK targets include nuclear power stations, military bases, Government buildings and high-profile politicians and members of the Jewish community.

Richard Kemp, former adviser on terrorism to Tony Blair, said the difficulty of attacking Western and Israeli military targets directly meant Iran was likely to use its terror network to retaliate. Hezbollah, formed in Lebanon in the 1980s, has grown to become a major force in the Middle East.

He said: “In my view Iran’s only realistic method of retaliation is through Hezbollah.

“Hezbollah undoubtedly have the capability to carry out attacks against Western targets outside the region. They have people here in the UK and they would aim to carry out attacks if they saw us as being in any way supportive of an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.”

Claude Moniquet, director of the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Centre, said: “Intelli-gence services across Europe believe Hezbollah pose a serious threat. They have already put in place a network of operatives and there is some evidence that reconnaisance has been carried out on potential targets.

“They are in wait-and-see mode at the moment and no-one knows exactly what they will do, but there is little doubt they will retaliate if Iran is attacked.”

The warnings come amid mounting speculation that either Israel or the United States may attack Iran’s nuclear facilities from the air. And tension mounted last week when, in a show of strength, Iran test-fired nine long-range ballistic missiles capable of hitting targets in Israel and coalition bases in Iraq.

In America Republican hawks suggest there is a “window of opportunity” for an attack after the US elections in November, before a new President is sworn in on 20 January next year.

But Sir Richard Dalton, British ambassador to Iran until 2006, insists there are still huge political, legal and military barriers to any attack.

Sir Richard, now an adviser to the think tank Chatham House, said the prospects had not changed, despite Iran’s missile launches and despite the major Israeli exercise last month which was widely seen as a rehearsal for air strikes on Iran.

Tomorrow the Government will ask MPs to approve adding Hezbollah – which attacked Israel with rockets in 2006 provoking an Israeli invasion of Lebanon – to a list of terrorist groups banned in the UK.

Yesterday Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said he viewed the impending ban as a “badge of honour”.

He added: “I consider it a natural decision to be issued by a founding bloc of the Zionist entity.”

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Syria to reclaim Golan from Israel

(IsraelNN.com) Syria is pumping more money into the border near the Golan Heights and plans to launch an English edition of its Golan newspaper as part of a strategy to take over the area.

Newspaper editor Ali Al-Zaher also plans to open up bureaus in Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. His office is adorned with a photo of Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah.The Popular Commission for the Liberation of Golan is providing financial support at Syrian universities for non-Jewish Golan residents.

The government requires the residents to return to the Golan Heights after completing their education in order to help stake a claim. The newspaper quoted an unnamed political analyst in Damascus as saying, "Inspired by Hizbullah's ability to resist the Israeli advance, the government wants more people to inhabit and know the region. The government saw that without popular resistance, the Israelis could easily send their tanks through the Golan on the road to Damascus." (ArutzSheva)

San Francisco Chronicle-March 6-2008:
"We believe that in the end what others obtain by force we will reobtain by force," said al-Zaher. "A small group of resistance men similar to Hezbollah could achieve victory in a Golan war."

As a visitor enters Ali al-Zaher's office, a photo of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Lebanon's Shiite militant group, Hezbollah, looms prominently. A scribbled message scrawled across the picture praises al-Zaher's commitment to the struggle against Israel.

Al-Zaher, editor of the state-backed Golan newspaper, aims to remind readers of Syria's claim to the Golan Heights, a 690-square-mile plateau captured by Israel during the 1967 Six Day War.

After years of unsuccessful negotiations, al-Zaher and other experts say Syria has decided to ratchet up the pressure on Israel by following Hezbollah's example of expanding its political and military authority in southern Lebanon.

A political analyst in Damascus, who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the issue, said that Syrian leaders - emboldened by Hezbollah's surprising military strength against Israel during a monthlong war in 2006 - are increasing the nation's influence near the Golan border.

"Inspired by Hezbollah's ability to resist the Israeli advance, the government wants more people to inhabit and know the region," the analyst said. "The government saw that without popular resistance, the Israelis could easily send their tanks through the Golan on the road to Damascus" (some 30 miles from the Golan border).

While both Syria and Israel say they are ready to negotiate the territory's status, peace talks ended after a U.S.-brokered peace agreement was nearly reached in 2000. At that time, then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered to return most of the Golan to Syria in exchange for normalization of relations. But talks broke off after Syria insisted on returning to the entire pre-1967 war frontier, which included 328 feet where Israel would not cede control.

"A peace deal is only possible if we regain our full rights," President Bashar Assad told a Tunisian newspaper recently. "Complete rights and sovereignty on this land and nothing less."

For its part, Israel now conditions renewed dialogue on Syria severing ties with Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas, the latter a militant group that governs the Gaza Strip and calls for the destruction of Israel.

Like many Golan natives, Mahel Awad, a 27-year-old student at Damascus University, is frustrated by the lack of negotiations.

"We support peace, but when is it going to happen?" he told a reporter in his dormitory room adorned with photos of Golan. "We are used to talk of negotiations, but at the end nothing materializes."

Continues here: San Francisco Chronicle

Hezbollah has revealed its colors

Beirut-(YaLibnan-June 25,2008)

The Mufti of Mount Lebanon Sheikh Mohammed Ali al-Jouzou said that Hezbollah is using the Resistance as a pretext to put the state and its institutions, including the Lebanese army, in its service.

"Hezbollah wants to impose its anarchic and aggressive policy on all Lebanese," Jouzou said.
"Who will protect the Lebanese people and the residents of Beirut from the weapons, the hatred and the arrogance of Hezbollah?" he asked.
"Who will save Lebanon from the Iranian-Shia project?"
He also rejected any apology from Hezbollah to the residents of Beirut, "because we only accept apologies from those who have self respect."
"Hezbollah has revealed its true colors. It pointed its arms against its own people, while it completely failed to protect South Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs from Israeli missiles, which destroyed them completely," Jouzou said.

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