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Politics : WAR on Terror. Will it engulf the Entire Middle East? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Haim R. Branisteanu who wrote (1499)	1/30/2002 6:39:04 PM
From: Scoobah	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32591

Syria, New UN Security Council Member, Is Reprimanded for Sanction-Busting 30 January: Syria has filed a strong protest with Washington, accusing the Sixth Fleet of a “piracy operation” against two Syrian commercial vessels on the Mediterranean. The US Charge d’Affaires in Damascus was summoned to the Syrian foreign ministry Wednesday January 30 to explain Sixth Fleet interception and search off Cyprus of two Syrian-registered merchant vessels, the “Captain Mohamed” and “Hajji Rahmeh”, that were shipping citrus from the Turkish port of Mersin. American sources report that the sea searches are part of the global war on terror. In this case, nothing was found. DEBKAfile ’s military sources report that 70 warships are patrolling the eastern Mediterranean, most US Sixth Fleet, a few British, Turkish and Israeli, hunting for fleeing al Qaeda fighters, Hizballah militants and weapons bound for Syrian and Lebanese ports. The fleet operates under US command and a combined Turkish-Israeli air force umbrella. So far this massive naval pursuit has turned up empty. After Israel’s interception of the Karine-A arms smuggling vessel on the Red Sea on January 3, the Mediterranean fleet stepped up its hunt for smuggled arms, urged on by the information that Iraqi military intelligence had taken in recent months to using Syrian merchant ships for smuggling in components for Iraq’s military industries and its weapons systems as well as materials for weapons manufacture, including missile warheads, bombs and chemical, biological and nuclear shells. Iraq’s military industry is working overtime to prepare the national arsenal for a US military campaign. Under the secret Iraqi-Syrian mutual defense pact, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein asked Syrian president Bashar Assad for help in circumventing the heavy US-British naval presence in the Persian Gulf. This help consisted of getting the prohibited goods through the Mediterranean. The virtual blockade was imposed on Syrian and Lebanese shores after the Syrian president acceded to Saddam’s request. Monday, January 28, Britain accused Syria of committing the most serious violation of UN sanctions against Iraq since 1990 by illegally importing and selling millions of barrels of Iraqi oil. Syrian took its seat on the UN Security Council, which imposed the sanctions, this month. According to Gulf sources, Syria is pumping 200,000 barrels per day of Iraqi oil, generating $1 billion a year in illegal revenue for the Iraqi government.

To: Haim R. Branisteanu who wrote (1499)	1/30/2002 9:17:51 PM
From: Scoobah	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32591

The PLO Warns the USA 30 January 2002 Email this story Print this story The official news agency of the Palestinian Authority, WAFA, released a statement this past week warning of violent consequences should the United States decide to boycott the PA and its leader Yasser Arafat. Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the PLO leader’s media advisor, threatened that, as a result of such a decision, “the region will likely witness a quake that would strike the entire region in away that can never be overcome.” Instead, apparently identifying Israel as a colony of the US, the PLO spokesman called on the United States to “…dismiss the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and bring an end to his policy which goes detriment [sic] for the peace process.” The PA daily al-Ayyam reported that the PLO representative in Washington, Hassan ‘Abed al-Rahman, also threatened that “any punitive measures taken against the Palestinian National Authority would be dramatically risky.” If Israeli Prime Minister Sharon “would have the chance to do whatever he wishes” as a result of US foreign policy,” ‘Abd al-Rahman reportedly said, “…this might lead to adverse security consequences in the region.” Without detailing what they might be, the PLO representative reportedly called on the US Administration to “find a political situation that would enable the PNA to meet its undertakings, not the opposite. But in fact the American Administration encourages the Israelis to continue violence that disables the Palestinian National Authority…” israelnationalnews.com