Assassinated Syrian Aide Supplied Terrorists with Anti-Aircraft Missiles

Sun, Aug 10, 2008 at 10:21:13 am PDT

That top Syrian general who was assassinated last week was in charge of procuring anti-aircraft missiles for Hizballah.

The senior aide to Syrian President Bashar Assad who was assassinated last weekend had been in charge of supplying Hizbullah with advanced anti-aircraft weaponry, the Sunday Times reported.

According to the report, Brig.-Gen. Muhammad Suleiman had provided the guerrilla group with advanced Syrian SA-8 anti-aircraft missiles, Middle Eastern sources told the paper. Such missiles could potentially challenge the IAF reconnaissance flights which are currently conducted unhindered over Lebanon.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese government is handing over more power to Hizballah—a decision that could backfire badly.

Last week, Lebanon’s new Cabinet unanimously approved a draft policy statement which could secure Hizbullah’s existence as an armed organization and guarantee its right to “liberate or recover occupied lands.”

“The Cabinet unanimously approved the draft,” Information Minister Tarek Mitri told reporters after the five-hour meeting at the presidential palace in a Beirut suburb last Monday.

Government sources in Jerusalem said the decision would make the government in Beirut an accomplice to any Hizbullah aggression and give Israel the right to hold it responsible.