Good news contained in the above article.
Posted on 06/27/2006 10:11:26 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanon is becoming a shelter for al-Qaida-linked militants fleeing across the Syrian border after a crackdown by authorities there, Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an interview published Monday.
His comments were certain to stoke tensions between the two neighbors. Lebanese opponents of Syria, who dominate the government and parliament in Beirut, have ridiculed such Syrian claims and accuse Damascus of sending militants across the border to destabilize Lebanon.
"This has become a reality," Assad said of al-Qaida's presence in Lebanon.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Arab newspaper Al-Hayat, Assad said al-Qaida's presence has grown in Lebanon since Syria ended its nearly three-decade military presence there last year. Syria pulled out its thousands of troops after international pressure and Lebanese street protests in the wake of the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri — blamed by many here on Damascus.
"When Syria was present in Lebanon, al-Qaida was there, but in a very limited way," Assad said.
Referring to Syria's own battle with Islamic militants, Assad said: "Some of the groups that we chase flee from Syria to Lebanon because it's closest and easiest, and the roads are mountainous."
Assad said interrogations of militants arrested in Syria recently showed many of them were not directly linked to Osama bin Laden's terror network, or any other organization. But he said they shared al-Qaida's ideology. He said most were "inspired" by the conflict in Iraq and that some had returned from fighting alongside insurgents there.
Syrian security forces have clashed several times with militants in recent years. On June 2, four militants and a police officer were killed in Damascus. In December, security forces killed eight extremists in a raid on a northern farmhouse that uncovered a bomb-making factory.
In Lebanon, authorities in January charged 13 people with planning terrorist attacks and said they had ties to al-Qaida. Al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility in December for a rocket attack on Israel from south Lebanon — the first such claim from Lebanon, though it could not be independently verified.
Syrian-Lebanese relations deteriorated sharply after Hariri's assassination in February 2005. Many Lebanese and some UN investigators believe Syria had a hand in the killing though Syria has denied involvement.
Assad said he is not opposed to establishing diplomatic relations with Lebanon. But, in a swipe at Lebanese government and U.N. Security Council demands, added: "This cannot be imposed by international, local or regional powers."
Assad defended the recent detention of human rights activists and intellectuals who signed the so-called "Damascus-Beirut Declaration," a document that called on Syria to improve relations with Lebanon and was seen by the government as a criticism of its policies.
"They were warned," said Assad, in the first such government comment on the detentions. "The declaration harms Syrian national security and was issued in collaboration with anti-Syrian Lebanese personalities ... They violated the law, and it is natural that the law be applied to them."
Assad also said Syria was willing to "facilitate" the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. He did not elaborate and repeated his country's call for a direct dialogue with Washington to repair relations damaged since the Iraq war.
Assad warned the West against a military strike on Iran because of its nuclear program, saying the results could be catastrophic.
Good news contained in the above article.
Assad is soo full of BS, it can't even be measured.
fyi
Unintentionally ironic headline of the day
Pot meet kettle.
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