Syria on the Move in Lebanon and Iraq
Pastor Dale Morgan
Syria on the Move in Lebanon and Iraq*
20:11 Nov 19, '06 / 28 Cheshvan 5767
by Ezra HaLevi
Syrian-backed Hizbullah may be poised to stage a revolution in Lebanon
as back-room negotiations between the US and Syria may result in Israel
being pressured to give up the Golan Heights.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem began a visit to Iraq on Sunday.
The visit will include meetings with US officials in Iraq at which
Moallem will relay Syria’s demand that Israel retreat from the Golan
Heights in return for Syrian cooperation in Iraq.
The insurgents that have plagued US troops in Iraq have for the most
part entered the country from Syria.
According to preliminary reports, former American Secretary of State
James Bakar’s soon-to-be delivered recommendations on Iraq policy
include engaging Syria and Iran in negotiations in order to enable the
US formulate an exit strategy.
London’s Sunday Times, which has in the past proven the veracity of its
Syrian sources, quotes Syrian Baath Party official Ayman Abdel Nour
saying that Bashar al-Assad’s “top demand” from the US and Britain is
that Israel be pressured to withdraw from the Golan.
"Syria will not do anything unless it has secured guarantees from
Washington and London that every action Damascus takes to help them will
be reciprocated. It will be a step by step scenario: these actions for
those actions,” he said. The Syrian demands also include a staged
withdrawal of US troops from the region.
Lebanon Worried About Syrian Coup
Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt warned Sunday that Lebanon is on
the verge of a coup de tat staged by Hizbullah and other pro-Syrian
elements.
"The opposition groups are on the verge of announcing a coup in the
country and we should take the brave decision to confront all options,"
Jumblatt said in a briefing to his ruling parliamentary faction.
Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah attacked the Lebanese government
publicly Saturday, saying it lacked credibility. "The Lebanese
government is in a state of weakness and is still feeling a huge defeat
as the result of the last Israeli war in Lebanon," Nasrallah said in a
taped address aired on Hizbullah’s Al-Manar satellite station Sunday.
Nasrallah urged Lebanese citizens to be prepared “psychologically” to
take to the streets in support of Hizbollah's demand for a national
unity government, though he insisted he was not calling for any violence.
Analysts think Nasrallah’s statements may serve as instructions for
pro-Syrian elements in Lebanon to prepare to take control. Hizbullah’s
unity government bid consists of a demand that the group, which answers
to Syria and Iran, be given veto power on all major government decisions.