New Air Defense Systems Supplied to Hizbullah by Russia

Hizbullah had struck a deal with Russia on new air defense systems and anti-tank missiles, the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera reported Friday.
It said the deal was completed in July when three Hizbullah representatives headed to Russia with Iranian passports and visited the Sixth International Fair for selling weapons and ammunition.

Hizbullah representatives expressed great interest in buying Russian arms “which proved effective” in the latest war between the Shiite group and Lebanon, the paper added.

The Italian journalist, who carried the report, told the daily Israeli Maariv that Hizbullah representatives were “careful not to attract any attention.”

“This is why they (Hizbullah) signed deals to buy air defense systems and anti-tank missiles after the end of the fair July 12,” said the Italian journalist.

Israel Warns Citizens Against Hizbullah Abduction Attacks

Israel on Wednesday issued a severe warning claiming that Hizbullah is seeking to kidnap Israelis abroad.
Israel’s counter-terror bureau issued the warning at a peak traveling season for Israelis, calling on tourists and businessmen to take special precaution in hotels, restaurants and recreational spots.

“The Hizbullah organization is unremitting in its efforts to attack Israelis throughout the world, with its emphasis on kidnappings,” a statement said.

“Avoid allowing entrance to your hotel room or apartment by unexpected or suspicious visitors,” it added.

Israelis were also urged to turn down “unexpected and alluring proposals in both business and recreation” and to alter routines and habits.

The anti-terror bureau earlier this year had warned that Hizbullah was seeking to target or abduct Israelis abroad following the assassination of top Hizbullah commander Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus in February.

Hizbullah has accused the Jewish state of responsibility for Mughniyeh’s assassination, something Israel has denied.

In 2000, Hizbullah snatched Israeli businessman Elhanan Tannenbaum after luring him to the United Arab Emirates. He was released in January 2004 as part of a prisoner exchange deal with the group.(AFP)

Lebanon Sunnis freeze Hizbullah deal

Several Sunni factions in Lebanon announced Tuesday night that they are freezing a truce they had signed with Hizbullah a day earlier.

The agreement, intended to defuse sectarian tension, prohibited any Muslim group from attacking fellow Muslims.

“The agreement will be temporarily frozen pending appropriate circumstances that allow for its implementation,” Sheikh Hassan al-Shahhal, who signed the memorandum with a Hizbullah official, told reporters Tuesday, according to The Lebanese Daily Star. The Sunni community, he said, needed to stand “more than ever” united and to shun divisions, while the memorandum needed further study.

Hizbullah officials said Wednesday that they respect the groups’ choice of freezing the memorandum of understanding for more discussions and revisions.

“They will find Hizbullah is always by their side in any decision they find appropriate,” the press release said, according to the NOW Lebanon news site.

Hizbullah signed the agreement on Monday with some Salafist groups, followers of a radical form of Sunni Islam. Many Salafists consider Shi’ites to be heretics.

Lebanon: Hizbullah, Salafi group sign MoU

Lebanon’s Hizbullah on Monday signed a new memorandum of understanding with another Lebanese group, in a bid to “preserve national unity and prevent sedition” in the country. The document was signed Monday between Hizbullah and the Salafist movement in a ceremony that was held at the Safir Metropolitan Hotel in Beirut.

The Shiite movement was represented in the ceremony by the head of its political council Sayyed Ibrahim Amin As-Sayyed, while the Salafist movement was represented by Sheikh Hassan Shahhal.

The new memorandum of understanding includes eight main clauses, emphasizing the need to stay united to confront sedition schemes and plots.

“First of all, and based on the holiness of the Muslim’s blood, we condemn any assault of one Islamic group against another,” the memorandum read. “If any group was exposed to an assault, it can resort to all legitimate means to protect itself,” it added.

The memorandum also stressed on the need to abandon incitement, which creates trouble and would allow the enemies to take advantage of the situation. It called on all Muslims to stay united against the Zionist-American scheme that aims at creating division and provoke sedition.

“In case either Hizbullah or the Salafists were subjected to injustice by domestic or external sides, it should be backed by the other side,” the statement also read. It stipulated forming a religious committee to discuss any disagreement between the Muslim Shiites and Sunnis.

Sayyed Ibrahim Amin As-Sayyed, who represented Hizbullah in the ceremony, stressed that the memorandum will relieve people who call for unity, especially within the same confession, and it will bother our enemies who wanted to segregate us. “Signing the memorandum is important because it will pave the way to solving controversial problems,” he noted, stressing that the misunderstandings were the result of incitement and blasphemy.

For his part, Sheikh Shahhal said the understanding was a courageous step in order to support civil peace, predicting that this step will lead to positive initiatives.

Hizbullah Deployed Advanced Anti-aircraft Rocket Systems

Hizbullah has been able to establish a military presence north and south of the Litani River and is already prepared to a large extent to fire rockets and missiles on Israel, an Israeli newspaper has reported.
Yediot Ahronot daily said Tuesday that security and intelligence chiefs are expected to present a discouraging assessment of the situation during the cabinet meeting Wednesday.

The report added that Hizbullah’s new military plan can effectively hinder the Israeli ground forces who would enter Lebanon to curb the missile fire.

Hizbullah’s rockets and missiles, estimated at 40,000, are found on both sides of the Litani, Yediot Ahronot revealed.

Yet, the heavy arsenal, the newspaper added, is made up of several hundred rockets with warheads weighing hundreds of kilograms and featuring a range of up to 250 kilometers (roughly 160 miles).

The arsenal is found underground north of the Litani and is well fortified in land bought by Hizbullah, the newspaper said.

In south Lebanon, the group established a fortified underground system that would be used to fight the IDF armored corps and infantry troops that advance towards the rocket arsenal north of the Litani. Meanwhile, the logistics and training center of Hizbullah, which has been boosted with thousands of new fighters, is in the Bekaa Valley region.

However, the most worrisome development to Israelis has to do with a new component that Hizbullah is attempting to set up with Syrian assistance.

The newspaper mentioned an anti-aircraft system that is aimed at limiting Israel’s ability to gather intelligence above Lebanon, and later make it more difficult for the Israeli Air Force to strike in Lebanon and Syria.

The Israeli daily warned that if Iran, Syria, and Hizbullah were able to establish a massive anti-aircraft system in Lebanon, this will fundamentally change the strategic balance of power.

This system, the newspaper pointed out, is supposed to provide aerial defense to the entire Syrian-Iranian rocket and missile arsenal in Lebanon and western Syria.

Yediot Ahronot said the message to Syria, which is also being conveyed via Wednesday’s cabinet meeting and through other means, some of them clandestine, is as follows: Israel would not accept the establishment of an advanced anti-aircraft system in Lebanon; should it be set up, Israel will not hesitate to act against it.

Israel is also warning Lebanon against granting Hizbullah the freedom to act, in light of the latest government decision in Beirut that in fact defines Hizbullah as part of the national army.

And the third issue: A warning to Hizbullah to refrain from carrying out acts of revenge for the killing of its top commander Imad Mughniyeh in a Damascus car bombing last February; Such acts would meet a “disproportional response.”

The Israeli government is attempting to convey all these messages at this time to Lebanon, Syria, Iran, and the international community, the daily said.

Israeli officials hope that exposing the Syria-Hizbullah intentions will deter Damascus and Tehran and stop them from implementing their plans in Lebanon.

Beirut, 06 Aug 08, 09:36