(Scotland on Sunday-UK) Ian Mather and Annette Young - The assassination of Hariri has had the unexpected result of shining the spotlight on the terrorist organization Hizballah. When the Bush administration named Syria as being responsible for the killing of Hariri, it launched an international diplomatic drive to have Hizballah, Syria's protege, internationally outlawed. Hizballah is accused of trying to disrupt the ceasefire signed by Israel and the Palestinians on Feb. 8. Palestinian security officials accuse Hizballah of sending large amounts of money to militants in the West Bank, encouraging them to step up attacks on Israel. The U.S. also accuses Hizballah of sending insurgents to Iraq to fight the coalition forces. Iraqi interior minister Falah al-Naqib said early this month that his government had seized 16 Hizballah members. Ra'anan Gissin, a senior adviser to Sharon, said: "If you were to define a major threat to peace and stability in the region it would be Syria and their proxy, Hizballah. Hizballah will try to torpedo any peace developments that take place between the Palestinians and us."
2005-02-22 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive