http://www.geostrategy-direct.com/
As Syrians move out of Lebanon, Al Qaida cells from Syria move in LONDON — The regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad has quietly encouraged Al Qaida cells to leave the country for neighboring Syria, Western intelligence sources said. In many cases, Al Qaida operatives have resettled in the mountains of northern Lebanon, long used as a haven by Islamic fighters. Syrian soldiers in a military truck move towards the al-Masnaa border point in the Bekaa valley as they withdraw from Lebanon. The Al Qaida migration comes as Syria seeks to reduce overt links to groups regarded as terrorist. The sources said the Assad regime, alarmed by increasing international isolation, has sought to demonstrate cooperation with the United States, particularly in its war against terrorism. "There's been quiet efforts by the regime against Al Qaida to demonstrate that Damascus wants to cooperate with the United States," a Western diplomat said. "The problem is that the effort has been far from comprehensive." So far, Syria has reduced training and recruitment by the former Saddam Hussein regime as well as Al Qaida-aligned groups in the effort to fight the U.S. military in neighboring Iraq. Intelligence sources said the Syrian efforts have decreased insurgency infiltration from Syria into Iraq over the past two months. The London-based Al Hayat daily reported on March 30 that Syria dismantled two Al Qaida cells in 2005. One cell operated in the northern city of Aleppo while the other was based in Homs. Sunni Muslim clerics led both cells. An Al Qaida operative killed a Syrian security agent in a mosque and was later captured by police. The interrogation of the Al Qaida operative led to the discovery of the two cells. Several members of the Al Qaida cells fled Syria for northern Lebanon, Al Hayat said. The newspaper asserted that the withdrawal of Syrian military units from the mountains in northern Lebanon has ensured that the Al Qaida operatives would not be sought. In April 2004, the Assad regime reported the capture of an Al Qaida cell that had bombed Western targets in Damascus. The U.S. expressed doubts over the veracity of the report, and some officials raised the prospect that the episode had been engineered by Assad to win support from Washington. On March 31, Syria evacuated two military posts near the eastern Lebanese town of Anjar. Witnesses saw the Syrian military load 18 trucks with soldiers and equipment for the trip to Syria. The Assad regime has informed the United Nations that it would withdraw from Lebanon before parliamentary elections. Lebanese opposition groups have accused Syria of masterminding a series of bombings in the Christian areas of Beirut in an attempt to torpedo plans for parliamentary elections in late May. The groups said the Assad regime intends to carry out additional attacks. "The Lebanese-Syrian security authority, with its political and constitutional symbols, is working to sabotage the parliamentary polls in a dangerous attempt to extend the term of the current parliament, illegally and unconstitutionally," the opposition said in a statement. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Take a look at donorschoose.org, an excellent charitable web site for anyone who cares about public education! http://us.click.yahoo.com/_OLuKD/8WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
