Syrian Islamists meet Hizballah head-on – take in arms from Bosnia, Kosovo
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report February 18, 2013, 12:52 PM (GMT+02:00)
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Reports Monday, Feb. 18, that Hizballah has transferred 1,000 fighters to the Syrian district of Homs are a red herring to distract attention from six new major developments in the Syrian civil conflict - revealed here by DEBKAfile’s military and intelligence sources:
1. Contrary to reports of Hizballah attacks on villages in the Homs region, the thousand Hizballah militiamen have moved in to defend the predominantly Shiite villages of the area whose population is loyal to Bashar Assad. They are there to relieve the Syrian army of the burden of defending these Shiites against rebel attack.
Hizballah has also undertaken to guard Shiite holy shrines in Syria.
1. Contrary to reports of Hizballah attacks on villages in the Homs region, the thousand Hizballah militiamen have moved in to defend the predominantly Shiite villages of the area whose population is loyal to Bashar Assad. They are there to relieve the Syrian army of the burden of defending these Shiites against rebel attack.
Hizballah has also undertaken to guard Shiite holy shrines in Syria.
2. The Muslim factions of the Syrian revolt have received their first heavy weapons consignments, mostly Kornet and Fagot anti-tank missiles. Their improved armaments account for the new edge they display in battles with Bashar Assad’s army, although reports of their conquests are much exaggerated.
3. These arms are coming from two sources: radical Islamist organizations in Bosnia and Kosovo, some of them associated with al Qaeda – at least ideologically. It is hard to say who is organizing and bankrolling the new weapons sea route to Syria. According to one theory, it is the Albanian mafia.
3. These arms are coming from two sources: radical Islamist organizations in Bosnia and Kosovo, some of them associated with al Qaeda – at least ideologically. It is hard to say who is organizing and bankrolling the new weapons sea route to Syria. According to one theory, it is the Albanian mafia.
4. For the first time, Syrian rebels are taking in arms unsupervised by any of the Western or Arab agencies involved in the Syrian revolt.
5. Most of the incoming weapons are destined for the Islamist Jabhat al-Nusra, the rebel faction identified with al Qaeda.
6. The Jabhat al-Nusra, newly armed with hardware from Bosnia and Kosovo, have pushed across the border into Lebanon, our sources reveal, and are harassing Hizballah in its home bases in the Beqaa Valley. Night after night in the last ten days, small bands of Islamist fighters, weighed down by heavy loads of rockets, are attacking Hizballah strongholds and isolated guard and watch posts and ambushing military vehicles.
Both are designated terrorist groups by the United States government.
The Syrian conflict has indeed spilled over the border into Lebanon. It is also turning more and more into a sectarian confrontation between extremist Sunnis and radical Shiites.
Both are designated terrorist groups by the United States government.
The Syrian conflict has indeed spilled over the border into Lebanon. It is also turning more and more into a sectarian confrontation between extremist Sunnis and radical Shiites.
http://www.dw.de/syrian-opposition-accuses-hezbollah-of-fighting-for-assad/a-16605499
Syria’s opposition has accused Lebanon-based Hezbollah militias of crossing into Syria to fight for President Bashar Assad. Rebels have also pressed their battle for three northern Syrian airports and airbases.
Syria's main opposition bloc on Sunday accused the Lebanon-based Shiite Hezbollah militia of sending fighters into Syria on Saturday to attack three Sunni villages inside Syria's Qusayr border region which lie in the central province of Homs.
Opposition activists quoted by the news agency Associated Press provided no evidence but said that 12 Shiites, five Syrian rebels and 7 Sunni civilians had been killed in the incident.
In Lebanon, a Hezbollah spokesman said three Lebanese Shiites were killed in clashes in Syria while acting in "self defense", without specifying whether they were Hezbollah members.
Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hezbollah is Shiite, while most of Syria's population and rebels battling Syrian President Assad are Sunni. His ruling clan belongs to the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.
The opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) said the alleged Hezbollah incursion had "stoked sectarian tensions" and had led to "civilian casualties and the exodus of hundreds."
Battle for airfields continue
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said fierce battles raged near Syria's main northern city of Aleppo as rebels continued their bid to capture Aleppo's international airport and its adjacent Nairab military airbase (pictured above).
Assad troops continued to guard the Kwiyres military airbase to the east of Aleppo and the Menegh airbase to the north, it said.
Brahimi appeals for talks
The joint UN-Arab League envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, on Sunday urged the Assad government to take up a recent offer of talks from the Syrian opposition leader, Mouaz al-Khatib.
Brahimi, speaking in Cairo after consultations with Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby, said the offer from Khatib had "opened the door and challenges the Syrian government to fulfill its often-repeated assertion that it is ready for dialogue and a peaceful settlement."
"This initiative is on the table and will be on the table," said Brahimi. "We believe that if a dialogue begins in one of the UN headquarters, at least initially, between the opposition and an acceptable delegation from the Syrian government, it will be a start for getting out of the dark tunnel in which Syria is placed."
On Friday, the Syrian National Coalition, said it would not accept Assad or members of his security services directly at such talks but it did not rule out dialogue with some members of his ruling Baath party, saying it welcomed talks with "honorable people".
Neither side has proposed a concrete timetable for such talks.
Power outage around Damascus
On Sunday, Syrian Electricity Minister Imad Khamis said power was being restored after an electricity outage plunged Damascus and southern Syria into darkness late on Saturday.
He blamed the blackout on an unspecified fault in high-voltage lines. A similar blackout struck the same areas on January 20.
Syria's conflict began in March 2011 with protests and turned into an armed insurgency after a harsh state crackdown. It has left 70,000 dead, according to latest UN estimates.
UN rights chief Navi Pillay has urged international action against Assad, including investigations for "crimes against humanity."
http://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-chief-chance-of-syrian-chemical-attack-very-low/
IDF chief: Chance of Syrian chemical attack ‘very low’
Benny Gantz minimizes fears of nonconventional assault from Damascus but says army remains on alert
February 17, 2013, 4:39 pm 2
Syria is unlikely to attack Israel with chemical weapons but Israel is nevertheless on alert for such an occurrence, IDF Chief of General Staff Benny Gantz said on Sunday.
“We hope it will be quiet, but ‘hope’ is not a plan of action,” Gantz said of the Syrian threat, speaking to a group of Jerusalem high school students. “Therefore we are operational… and will be ready for any threat from this direction.”
However, “the likelihood of chemical weapons use by Syria is very low,” Gantz said. “There are defensive solutions and there are offensive solutions [to such a strike],” he added, “but I do not think [chemical weapons] will be the first problem to arise [from Syria].”
Israel has repeatedly said that the transfer of Syrian chemical weapons to the hands of Hezbollah or other Islamic groups as a result of the chaos of the Syrian civil war would cross a “red line” and have to be dealt with.
Last month Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dispatched National Security Council head Yaakov Amidror to Moscow for a lightning visit meant to convince the Kremlin to take steps to prevent Syria’s stockpiles from falling into the hands of terrorist groups.
Netanyahu also summoned Home Front Defense Minister Avi Dichter for a special discussion regarding Syria’s chemical weapons and Israel’s preparedness in facing attacks.
“We must look around us, at what is happening in Iran and its proxies and at what is happening in other areas, with the deadly weapons in Syria, which is increasingly coming apart,” Netanyahu said at the time.
A few days later, Israel reportedly struck a weapons convoy carrying sophisticated anti-aircraft weapons from Syria to Lebanon.
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