-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 <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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