-Caveat Lector-
The Syrian Mafia Connection
by
Professor Murray Kahl and Naji N. Najjar,
Director, Lebanese Foundation for Peace
June 1, 2001
Israel’s revelation a few weeks ago that it captured a munitions
laden ship, the San Torini, destined to supply arms to the Palestinians in
the Gaza Strip, has several political nuances that are of importance as
they
reveal the inner workings of several country’s intelligence agencies and
cooperation between several European and Middle East groups.
The mid-size ship was revealed by Lebanese security sources to be
registered at the Port of Tripoli in Lebanon under the name “San Torini”
and
owned by a Lebanese woman who resides in Tripoli. The San Torini had been
used for typically mundane purposes such as transporting goods from the
Cypriot Port of Larnaka to the Port of Tripoli. In this instance, however,
the owner curiously placed it under the disposal of an international
maritime shipping firm. The ship's crew was composed of a Greek-born
captain
who lives in al-Qalamun district on the outskirts of Tripoli, and eight
crew
members, three Lebanese, four Egyptians, and a Pakistani national.
On May 4, 2001, the ship was cleared by the Tripoli Port
authorities
to make a journey to the Port of Larnaka, ostensibly to transport
miscellaneous goods for a merchant from Tripoli in north Lebanon. The ship
left Tripoli the next day and anchored nine hours later still inside
Lebanese territorial waters. Two hours later, about 15 kilometers due north
from Tripoli, the ship sent a coded message that was intercepted by
intelligence services in the Mediterranean and decoded.
After sending its message, the vessel continued its journey and
entered international waters and met with another ship carrying the Italian
flag named Barbi-53-Alfa.. After the two vessels exchanged identification,
they approached close enough for the Barbi-53-Alfa to transfer its cargo to
the San Torino. The two ships parted and went their separate ways, the
Lebanese vessel south and the Italian one north. Curiously, the crew of the
San Torini had no idea of their final destination or the mission of their
vessel.
Lebanese security sources believe the two ships were under
surveillance by a intelligence ship of the US 6th Fleet that was positioned
about 100 kilometers off Lebanese shores. Five hours after the meeting
between the two ships, the crew of San Torini found itself circled by
Israeli Navy ships and some vessels from the US 6th Fleet.
As the ship was about to leave international waters heading into
Israeli waters, it was ordered to stop and allow its cargo to be checked on
the grounds that it was about to illegally enter Israel's territorial
waters. The Israeli ships warned the San Torini's crew that the Israelis
would open fire if it failed to halt. The Greek captain agreed and an
Israeli Navy officer boarded the Lebanese ship along with a number of
Israeli armed sailors and they checked the cargo. They discovered that the
ship had a consignment of weapons and ammunition that included 82-mm mortar
guns, RPG rockets, and 7-mm and 12-mm heavy machine guns, as well as
anti-tank missiles, and automatic rifles.
The ship was led to an Israeli Sea port where the armament was
unloaded and an investigation began of its crew. The Israeli goal was to
discover the origin of the weapons and ammunition and their intended
recipients.
Shortly after the interrogation began at the Israeli Coastguard
headquarters in the Nahariya area, the captain and crew confessed that the
cargo originated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine--General Command, headed by Ahmad Jibril and that the ship’s
destination was the Gaza Strip. The sources highlighted that the Popular
Front is headquartered in Damascus and this weapons’ transfer displays
their
involvement with Syrian Intelligence, under the direct orders of the
highest
levels of the Syrian government (known as a supplier of heavy weapons,
including T-56 Russian tanks, to Palestinian groups in the past). The
sources emphasized that the Mafia is only one of Syria’s suppliers of
weapons.
After the interrogation, the captain and crew of the ship were
moved
to an unknown site in Israel on May 7th for further questioning by skilled
Israeli security personnel. This turned out to be superfluous, for the next
day the leader of the Popular Front claimed credit for the attempted
smuggling of the weapons consignment and said that the missiles on board
could reach as far as Tel Aviv. He added that it had been the third time
that his group had sent weapons and ammunition to the Gaza Strip.
Nonetheless, another arcane element of the Israeli/Palestinian
conflict had been exposed and placed under investigation. Other European
intelligence sources revealed a role, not an exclusive role, by the Italian
Mafia. The Italian Mafia has expressed willingness to supply the
Palestinian
Authority with weapons and ammunition using diversified channels and agents
in certain Arab states. The Mafia is said to have offered the Palestinians
long-range missiles and heavy artillery. The same sources emphasize that
many of the Palestinian factions are purchasing arms from the Mafia who
ensure that the military consignments get through to the Palestinian
Authority and to Palestinian territory. Reportedly, the arms deals call for
a half of the price to be paid up-front and the balance upon delivery.
With the quiet approval of HizbAllah and Lebanon’s Syrian
controlled
government, arms sales brokers and dealers are now actively busy on the
Beirut-Milan route and the Beirut-Brussels route. European Mafia chapters
formulated unique methods of smuggling weapons to Palestine.
A Lebanese arms dealer, from the town of Zahlah, is said to be
traveling between Beirut and Brussels and Amman and offering to sell the
Palestinians advanced weapons as well as to transport them to Palestine
where they would be delivered to the Palestinian National Authority in Gaza
or any other designated point. This Lebanese dealer is willing to supply
the
Palestinians with electronically guided missiles, especially the
French-manufactured "Milan" and also Belgium made arms.
The European sources also report that there are other arms
merchants
based in Damascus, Beirut, France, Brussels, and Rome, trying to smuggle
and supply arms and ammunition to the Palestinians and will deliver the
cargo to almost any Arab or Palestinian port. They add that the Mafia is
prepared to supply any type of weapon on condition that they know that they
are dealing with a reliable and trustworthy party. The Mafia is willing to
deliver at relatively low prices that are 15 per cent below the going
international rates.
Lebanese sources report that Sec. General NasrAllah of HizbAllah is
well aware of these arms shipments, heartedly approves, and is coordinating
his support with Iran and Syria and the Lebanese government. However,
sources within the Lebanese establishment report growing unrest with these
weapon’s shipments as they realize that the Mafia is not ideologically
rooted and will sell their weapons to anyone with cash.
Additional information indicate that advances have been made in a
European country between the Mafia and elements of the Free Lebanese
Resistance. The Free Lebanese Resistance has accumulated sums of cash and
are negotiating for enough weapons to supply thousands of Lebanese Freedom
fighters who are expected to begin their military training outside of
Lebanon. The reports indicate that weapons shipments are planned to arm a
native Lebanese uprising and secret routes have been worked upon to bring
these weapons into Lebanon at the appropriate time.
--
Just a few points:
1) The Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine--General Command, headed by Ahmad Jibril - is the
group of Palestinian terrorists who blew up Pan-Am flight 103
over Lockerbie Scotland. This is of course justified because
the Palestinian people are oppressed.
2) The accumulation of these weapons were strictly forbidden
under the Oslo agreements. They are ample proof that the Palestinians
were never serious about making peace with Israel, but were only using
Oslo as a springboard for the opportunity to establish a " beach front "
position from which to attack the most vulnerable Israeli cities and
infrastructures like Ben Gurion airport. There was never any intention to
live peacefully with Israel.
The whole
peace process was a sham on all sides. The American and European globalists
needed to remove the Palestinians as a hot button issue to allow for
regionalizing the Mideast into a NAFTA-like economy. The Israelis could
not allow a truly independent Palestinian state for security reasons, and
the Palestinians needed a platform from which to launch the ultimate
destruction of the Jewish State spearheaded by them and backed by the armies
of the other Arab states.
Oh what a tangled web we weave...
Joshua2
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