NEWS: Lebanese Army Mobilise After Assassination.

Former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has been killed in a car bomb early Monday. Mr Hariri was a fierce opponent of Syrian involvement in the Lebanon and the assasination comes at a time of rising tensions between Lebanon and Syria.Syrian Baath party offices in the lebanon have been targeted by angry mourners who blame Syrian interference and the Syrian opposition have called for the pro-Syrian governments resignation.Syria has denied any involvement.



An extremely deadly fuse has been lit here. Many will hope that it will signal the withdrawal of Syrian troops which occupy/ protect the Lebanon.

There has been condemnation around the world.

The WhiteHouse has described the act as "brutal" and called for Syrian withdrawal.

Jacque Chirac has called for an immediate international inquirey.

Syria will be reluctant to withdraw and the consequences of this could lead to military conflict.

Expect a UN resolution very soon.

Related Links

CNN

Al Jazeera

The Guardian



[edit on 15-2-2005 by John bull 1]

[edit on 15-2-2005 by ZeddicusZulZorander]

[edit on 16-2-2005 by John bull 1]

Looks like someone is trying to stir up trouble in that region. Where do you get the part where there "rising tension" between syria and lebanon?

With "other" conflict in that region, I would look to those who would gain the most from this.

Lebanese Gulf Of Tonkin?

I could be wrong, but I'm getting a sense of deja vu here.

I wonder if the Lebanese know something about the status of U.S. support for a Lebanese expulsion of Syria that we don't?

This is only the public face of a much bigger story.

The coming months promise to very, very interesting indeed.

lebanon is accusing syria for the attack, since they have about 14.000 troops stationed in lebanon.
the lebanese opposition demanded immediate resign of the current lebanese goverment.
beirut is under sever military control, with several checkpoints.
in this "hot" middle eastern area, things are getting more and more complicated and the temperature is rising.
it will really be a long, hot summer...

Lebanon and Syria going at it?

Man, Christmas is coming early for the Bush Administration....



Terrorist haven vs. Terrorist haven...what could be better? If I didn't know any better, I'd almost guess that the CIA did it and implicated the Syrians... Sadly though, they simply aren't that clever (especially with this Administration) and nowadays couldn't pull it off...

These two never really played well with others, so personally I'm sure most of us in the West could care less whether or not these two kill the heck out of each other...simply makes our job easier...

[edit on 15-2-2005 by Gazrok]

The opposition also called for the government's resignation, for Syrian troops to withdraw from the country before elections in May and for a three-day strike.

This is exactly what the Bush administration has been demanding for years.
This doesn't benefit Syria but it does benefit the US and Israel and that makes you wonder who was really responsible.

This 'previously unknown group' must have had help from someone to pull off as big an event as that one but I don't know if that help came from Syria.

A pro-Syrian group murdered Hariri because of his opposition to the Syrian presence. Syria must remove its forces from Lebanon in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1559.



Rebekka

Originally posted by Gazrok
Man, Christmas is coming early for the Bush Administration....

Came early too on 9/11 as I recall

The heat is being turned up on Syria and Iran. They are acting out as the vise clamp turns. The Iraq bridge head is established. Iran and Syria will now bend or we will break them. It's time bring them to their knees.

It seems that the CIA has their game on again...
go team!

yep, this seems to be the best way to deal with the mideast... let them fight amongst themselves...

If the muslims could ever agree upon one basic belief system, and unite, they would be a force to fear, but alas... it is much like the christian separations...
all the islamic sects (and a few others) believe they are uniquely right...

so they will never agree on anything... with or without US help...

Lebanese opposition leaders on Tuesday bluntly implicated Syria.

"This (Lebanese) regime is backed by the Syrians.

This is the regime of terrorists and terrorism that was able yesterday to wipe out Rafik al-Hariri," Druze leader Walid Jumblatt said after presenting his condolences to Hariri's family in Beirut.

"I charge the Lebanese-Syrian police regime with the responsibility for Hariri's death."

Exiled former general Michel Aoun, a Maronite Christian and long-time foe of Syria, said Damascus was indirectly, if not directly, responsible for the Hariri's killing.

"There are many Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services working in Beirut and they control everything in the country.

I don't think that if they were taking care of Hariri he would be attacked so easily"

Reuters



The U.S. has recalled its ambassador to Syria.


Rebekka

interesting article, that turns the finger at u.s. and israel.

"This is the work of an intelligence service, not a small group," said Rime Allaf, Middle East analyst at London's Royal Institute of International Affairs.

We must do as they do in other criminal cases, look at who had the most to gain from the assassination of Prime Minister Harriri. The Lebanese had a lot to lose, as did the Syrians.

America quickly pointed the finger at Syria, as did Israel, which was tantamount to convicting themselves because they are the only two countries that would gain by creating unrest in Lebanon.

It’s time these killings in Iraq, in Lebanon, and even the assassination of the Prime Minister of Georgia, a foe of American oil pipelines, be stopped, and that the world set up an investigation team to look into these matters because they create more chaos and misery for the world.

source:
information.clearing.house

souljah, it wasnt the US, our CIA has never been one to use car bombs, mossud is more likely, if anything lebbanon or israel would benefit more if syria is expelled by this incident, my bet is lebanese intelligence did this to push the UN to force syria out, this doesnt benefit us as much as it benefits lebanon or israel.

Originally posted by namehere
souljah, it wasnt the US, our CIA has never been one to use car bombs, mossud is more likely, if anything lebbanon or israel would benefit more if syria is expelled by this incident, my bet is lebanese intelligence did this to push the UN to force syria out, this doesnt benefit us as much as it benefits lebanon or israel.

yes, i had those two "suspects" in my mind:
u.s. or isreal.
but lebanese intelligence never crossed my mind.
that does sound possible.
so lets say,
that cia and mossad triggered an operation,
done by lebanese intelligence,
that "hired" a new "terrorist" group to assassinate ex-pm,
with a carbomb, to make it look like a terrorist, syrian attack.

lebanon gets syrian troops out,
isreal gets more control over syria,
and ofcourse the u.s. forces can now monitor iraq-syrian border,
and prepare and for "the intervention" if necessary.

Originally posted by Gazrok
Lebanon and Syria going at it?

Man, Christmas is coming early for the Bush Administration....

!!!!Bingo!!!!! why get your hands dirty when you can have somebody else do the dirty job for you.

Remember all alone what we want is the destabilization of the entire gulf area, so who needs troops or more involvement when you can just ignite the fire and let it burn free.

Then get involve as a "humanitarian cause" and get aproval from eveybody.

Genius.

It's the bad guys that are acting out. The bad guys are terrorist. The bad guys are being supported by the Syrians and Iranians. It really is that simple people.

Originally posted by namehere
my bet is lebanese intelligence did this to push the UN to force syria out, this doesnt benefit us as much as it benefits lebanon or israel.

lebanese intelligence (Al Mokabarat) is basically syrian intelligence, since syria has all but taken over the running of lebanon's administrative and security services. Therefore, Al Mokabarat is the last group that wants to stir up trouble for the syrians.

Either way, this is a sad day for us lebanese everywhere. Inshallah yirhamu w semhu. Me'et mittl malik, w he'esh mitl butt'al.

For entertainment, lets play the conspiricy card:

with the the prospect of having to deal with large sji'ite uprise in iraq plus the iranian army and possibly on the brink or possession of nuclear bombs, I entertain the possibillity that the pentagon dog will rather choose to bark up Syrias tree instead of iran ???



[edit on 15-2-2005 by Countermeasures]

Everyone seems to be either forgetting or oblivious of the fact that Lebanon is an occupied country. The situation has been overlooked so long Lebanon strikes most as another country we all need to watch. It is considered by many to be another Islamic country. This is not true. Lebanon is a Christian nation so long occupied by Syrians that few even realize that any more.

Many will hope that it will signal the withdrawal of Syrian troops which occupy/ protect the Lebanon.

Occcupy/protect??? What is Syria protecting Lebanon from. The pleas of the Lebanese to get their country back have gone so long ignored it's a travesty. Suddenly an anit-Syrian voice is assasinated and it is plot? No one truly cares.

The biggest conspiracy here is that the UN is useless, and unless there are ulterior motives no one will do anything to restore this nation back to what it should be.

But honestly, I do not see the animosity between Lebanon and Isreal as any different from the animosity between Syria and Isreal. So coming to the aid of Lebanon suddenly for this circumstance is no more benficial to Isreal or the US. But we shall see.


[edit on 2/15/2005 by Relentless]

Everyone seems to be either forgetting or oblivious of the fact that Lebanon is an occupied country

An occupied country that the US can now use as mitigation to act against Syria, whether the US was involved in the assasination or not.

and unless there are ulterior motives no one will do anything to restore this nation back to what it should be

Exactly, and now those motives exist.

-raven