(New York Times) Steven R. Weisman - The U.S. has received "credible information" that Syrian operatives in Lebanon plan to try to assassinate senior Lebanese political leaders and that Syrian military intelligence forces are returning to Lebanon to create "an environment of intimidation," a senior administration official said Thursday. It was clear that the official's statements were a deliberate signal of the Bush administration's continuing displeasure with the Syrian government's role in Lebanon. He said that information about the threat had been disseminated to governments in the Middle East and Europe and that "we thought it would be useful to make this public as a deterrent to the Syrians." "The headquarters and a lot of other facilities of Hamas and other groups remain in Syria, and these groups are still directed essentially from Damascus," said the administration official. "Syria is still the nub of a lot of problems."
2005-06-10 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive