Israel is Prime Suspect in Lebanon Assassination
By Mehdi Shakiba'i
www.globalresearch.ca
Text of commentary by Mehdi
Shakiba'i:
"Israel the prime suspect in
Hariri's assassination", published by the Iranian newspaper E'temad web
site (original Persian, translation BBC)
International desk: The terrorist
operation committed last evening (Monday (14 February)) in Beirut that
resulted in the assassination of Rafiq Baha al-Din al-Hariri, the former
prime minister of Lebanon and the architect of that country's new economy,
put another twist in the blind knot of the situation in the Middle East.
Those who planned, guided and executed that heinous act are hoping that
they may calculate their own gains or losses within the framework of their
future plans, regardless of the anxieties of the Lebanese people.
The absence of that charismatic
figure from the political and economic scene in Lebanon who, despite some
differences of views with some influential regional countries, was never
prepared to go beyond the circle of diplomatic activities, can help
advance the aims of some foreign and international sides in the region.
The important point is that Israel can be regarded as the prime suspect
(in Hariri's assassination) because it benefits most from Hariri's absence
from the political stage in Lebanon.
The assassination of the former
prime minister of Lebanon takes place at a time when the division of power
in that country is based on ethnic participation. The Lebanese
constitution has given the presidency to the Christians, the post of prime
minister to the Sunni Muslims, and the chairmanship of the Majlis
(parliament) to the Shi'is.
Tel Aviv could be regarded as the
number one suspect in yesterday's terrorist operation because of the
following reasons:
1. After the UN Security Council
Resolution 1559 put forward by France and America was passed, Lebanon was
divided between two camps, those in favor of the presence of Syrian forces
in Lebanon and those against. As a person who was close to the French
President Jacque Chirac, Hariri joined the group that was opposed to the
presence of Syrian forces on the Lebanese soil. That split, which
incidentally was also based on some form of ethnic division, provided
Israel with the opportunity that by assassinating Hariri it could make it
appear that he had been assassinated due to his differences with Damascus
and the Hizbullah, and in this way to inflame ethnic strife in Lebanon.
2. As (President) George Bush's
government in his second term has concentrated its efforts to find a
solution to the Arab-Israeli and Palestinian-Israeli conflict, in the eyes
of Tel Aviv trying to portray an unstable situation in Syria and Lebanon
can force Damascus, as the front line of the Arab-Israeli conflict, to
retreat from her former positions. Israel is hoping to force Syria to
gradually distance herself from the Lebanese Hizbullah as the front line
of resistance against Israel.
3. In the eyes of Israeli security
and intelligence organizations, the victory of the Iraqi Shi'i alliance
(in Iraqi election) could automatically result in strengthening the Shi'is
in Lebanon. Therefore, it was essential to disrupt that line of thinking
(the unity of Lebanese Shi'is) by creating an event based on sectarian
conflict. Hariri's assassination will help the Mossad to implement its
aims.
4. The relations between Syria and
Russia could have also played some role in yesterday's operations. Tel
Aviv regarded the new Damascus-Moscow front, which due to some probable
sale of advanced weapons (to Syria) had entered a new phase, as a
potential threat. Russian participation in the power equations in the
Middle East could have helped to upset the balance of power in the region,
something that Washington was not prepared to accept.
5. Tel Aviv has recently increased
its activities in Europe against the Lebanese Hizbullah. With the arrival
of Silvan Shalom, that regime's foreign minister, in London (today), Tel
Aviv is trying to include that movement's name in the list of the
so-called terrorist organizations. In this way (presumably as the result
of Hariri's assassination), Israel will be able to intensify the volume of
her propaganda and psychological war against that movement. One reason for
these activities is that, according to the security services of the
Zionist regime, HAMAS and Islamic Jihad resistance groups may imitate the
methods used by the Lebanese Hizbullah in their confrontation against the
Israeli army.
6. The Zionist regime is preparing
itself for the forced withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. In order to prepare
for the post-withdrawal period, that regime must create some problems for
any outside support for the Palestinian groups from beyond Palestinian
borders. Syria and the Lebanese Hizbullah as the moral supporters of the
Palestinian groups have become the targets of that conspiracy.
7. The activities of the Israeli
foreign intelligence organization (the Mossad) have been so extensive
during the past few months that even the second television channel of that
regime has recently criticized that organization. It has accused Mayer
Dunman (phonetic), the head of that organization, of dangerous
adventurism, because it had tried to assassinate Khalid Mash'al, the
political leader of the Hamas, inside Syrian territory, without thinking
of its negative consequences.
Consequently, one can regard that
organization (the Mossad) of involvement in yesterday's adventurism in
Beirut.
Source: E'temad web site, Tehran, in
Persian 15 Feb 05
BBC Monitoring
17 February 2005
-----------------------------------
Summary of article entitled
"The Syrian MIG Planes Downed by
Israel, the Assassination of Hariri, and All-out War" ,
Feb 15, 2005
by Ibrahim Karagul
Yeni Safak, Ankara
Columnist Ibrahim Karagul suggests
links between the assassination of Former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik
Hariri and the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon, the recent defeat
of the pro-Syrian Lebanese government, and "the plan to fuel divisive
sentiments in Lebanon. " He claims that the killing of Hariri might touch
off a civil war in Lebanon and that rather than being independent
developments, the division of Iraq, the growing tension in Syrian-Lebanese
relations, the Israeli preparations to "wage war" on HAMAS and Hezbollah,
the accession to power of Mahmoud Abbas in "Palestine" and the US plan to
hit strategic targets in Iran are all interrelated parts of the US-Israeli
plan detailed in the policy paper entitled "A Clean Break: A New Strategy
for Securing the Realm."
© Copyright E'temad web site
(original Persian, translation BBC 2005.
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