-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: February 26, 2007 1:36:52 PM PST
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Israel and Iran: Mixed Messages
3 GULF STATES AGREE TO IAF OVERFLIGHTS EN ROUTE TO IRAN
By Yoav Stern and Yossi Melman, Haaretz Correspondents
Ha'aretz (Israel), 25 February, 2007
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/830309.html
Three Arab states in the Persian Gulf would be willing to allow the
Israel Air force to enter their airspace in order to reach Iran in
case of an attack on its nuclear facilities, the Kuwaiti newspaper
Al-Siyasa reported on Sunday.
According to the report, a diplomat from one of the gulf states
visiting Washington on Saturday said the three states, Qatar, Oman
and the United Arab Emirates, have told the United States that they
would not object to Israel using their airspace, despite their fear
of an Iranian response.
Al-Siyasa further reported that NATO leaders are urging Turkey to
open its airspace for an Attack on Iran as well and to also open
its airports and borders in case of a ground attack.
According to a British diplomat who spoke to an Al-Siyasa
correspondent, Turkey will not repeat the mistake it made in 2003,
when it refused to open its airspace to U.S. Air Force overflights
en route to attacking Iraq.
British newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported Saturday that Israel
is negotiating with the U.S. over permission for an "air corridor"
over Iraq, should an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities become
necessary.
Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh on Saturday denied the reports
and said Israel has no such plans.
----------------------
ISRAELI SPY CHIEF PREDICTS WAR-FREE MIDEAST IN 2007
by Ron Bousso
February 25, 2007
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070225/wl_mideast_afp/
mideastisraelpolitics_070225180408
JERUSALEM (AFP) - The head of Israel's Mossad spy agency told the
government on Sunday that there would be no war between Israel and
its neighbours in 2007.
"There is no chance of war in the Middle East in 2007," spy chief
Meir Dagan told the Israeli cabinet during an annual intelligence
briefing, according to a senior government official present.
Dagan was referring primarily to the likelihood of conflicts with
either Syria or Lebanon, the official said.
His counterpart, the chief of military intelligence, was not quite
so upbeat about the year ahead.
"The strategic environment surrounding Israel is less stable than
it used to be," the official quoted Amos Yadlen and his staff as
telling ministers.
Growing instability in Iraq and Iran's nuclear programme posed
"bigger dangers than there used to be in the past years," they
continued.
"The chances of a full-scale war initiated by Syria are low, but
the chances of Syria reacting militarily against Israeli military
moves are high," the official quoted Yadlen and staff saying.
"Syria is continuing to build up its army and to prepare for war."
Syria and Iran, Yadlen warned, both "fundamentally believe that
they do not have to make any compromises," and "that terrorism is
the right strategy to use against Israel."
Both Dagan and Yadlen agreed that the Shiite Hezbollah militia in
Lebanon was doggedly expanding its military might in the wake of
the 34-day war with Israel last summer.
"Hezbollah was dealt a strong blow and is currently occupied with
strengthening its military power," Dagan said.
The cabinet heard a series of annual reports by its intelligence
agencies on regional issues including the Palestinian conflict,
Iran and Syria.
The briefing included assessments by the foreign spy agency Mossad,
the domestic intelligence agency Shin Beth and military
intelligence, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's spokeswoman Miri Eisin
told AFP.
Members of the National Security Council, the foreign ministry and
the police were also due to speak during the session, which could
continue through to Monday, she added.
Ahead of Sunday's briefing, Defence Minister Amir Peretz spoke of
recent reports in Israeli media that Syria was preparing for war
against Israel, and reiterated his position that the door to talks
must remain open.
"We are hearing voices from Syria, which alongside calls for peace
is preparing for war," Peretz said.
"We must thoroughly examine any development, prepare ourselves for
any possibility of war, and at the same time leave the door open
for negotiations."
On Saturday Israel denied a British newspaper report that it is
seeking permission from the United States to fly its warplanes over
Iraq to attack Iran's nuclear facilities.
After Sunday's intelligence briefing, Israel Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert said there was still time to deal with the Iranian nuclear
threat.
"Iran is not as close to crossing the technological threshhold as
it would like to depict itself, but they are not as far as we would
like them to be," he said, according to an official.
Tehran on Sunday vowed to continue enriching uranium, which the
West fears is a cover to make atomic weapons. Iran says its nuclear
programme is for purely peaceful purposes.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also defied Western threats to impose
more sanctions over Iran's contested nuclear programme, and
compared its atomic drive to a "train with no brakes."
In another move that could increase tensions, Tehran said it had
successfully launched its first rocket into space in a possible
first step to launching its own satellites.
Ahmadinejad has in the past called for Israel to be wiped off the map.
Israel is itself considered to be the sole nuclear weapons power in
the Middle East, but it does not officially acknowledge that it has
an atomic arsenal.
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