Hezbollahs Imad Mughniyeh killed in Damaskus

Ein gefundenes Fressen für alle Liebhaber der gepflegten Conspiracy-Theory: Imad Mughniyeh, one of America's most wanted fugitives implicated in a series of infamous attacks against U.S., Israeli and Jewish targets in Lebanon and abroad, has been killed by Israeli agents, Hezbollah announced in a statement Wednesday. An Iranian television station said he was killed in a car bomb in Syria. [...] Israel's government declined comment on the assassination. Syria has not said anything either, nor did Hezbollah explicitly link his death to the Damascus bombing, which would be an embarrassment for the government of President Bashar Assad for hosting him. [...] The statement did not say how he was killed, but the announcement came a few hours after a late night explosion in Damascus, capital of neighboring Syria, destroyed a vehicle. Witnesses in Damascus said at the time that a passerby was killed as security forces sealed off the area and removed the body, but authorities there would not give details. Der Anschlag dürfte für den syrischen Präsidenten Assad eine bloßstellung bedeuten: Zum Einen ist nun klar erwiesen das sich internationale top-Terroristen in Syrien frei bewegen können. Zum Anderen gilt dies auch für internationale Mörderbanden. Nach dem derzeitigen Stand der Dinge sind keine weiteren Personen zu Schaden gekommen. Die politischen Auswirkungen können derzeit noch nicht abgeschätzt werden. Hezbollah lawmaker Ismail Sukeyir said the organization's leadership would meet in Beirut to discuss its response. "Hezbollah has the right to retaliate anywhere in the world and in any way it sees fit," he said. Die Frage nach der Täterschaft ist hier von zentraler Bedeutung, jedoch gibt es möglicherweise drei Dutzend Länder, Gruppen, Geheimdienste die in Frage kommen. Ebenso interessant wird die Nachfolgediskussion: Mughniyah headed Hezbollah's operations branch serving in a role similar to chief of staff. Die Zielrichtung des Anschlags ist also eindeutig: Die Hezbollah-Militärführung wurde zur innenpolitischen Destabilisierung [Shiiten vs Sunniten im Libanon], zur Verschlechterung der Beziehungen zu Syrien und zur Enthauptung der aktiven Anti-Israel-Strategie [Entführung von Soldaten, künftige Grenzkonflikte] beseitigt. Damit ist keineswegs schlüssig Israel als Täter identifiziert, da gerade diese Woche ["It's true that Hezbollah is raising its flag along the border," an IDF official said. "But in a year and a half not one of our soldiers on the border has sustained even a scratch. During the entire period only two rockets have been launched by an extremist group unaffiliated to Hezbollah," the official added. "Of course, that may change tomorrow. Hezbollah, for its own reasons, has not changed its jihadist ideology that calls for our destruction, but refraining from launching attacks testifies to the blow it suffered during the war and, for now, it has refrained from launching a new round."] im taktischen Bereich Rationalität ausgebrochen ist und man eigentlich einen Nord-Konflikt angesichts der Lage in Gaza kaum gebrauchen kann. Eher wahrscheinlich ist eine eher unbedeutende politische Gruppe des Libaonon ausführend, wobei ein amerkanisches Engagement realistisch ist. Da die Grenze zu Israel nun mit Sicherheit attackiert wird dürfte Israel vorab informiert worden sein. Zwar hat die Welt mit Mughniyeh nichts verloren, aber die Zeche werden Zivilisten bezahlen. Die Gegenanalyse besagt das die Tötung von Mughniyeh ein klares Zeichen an die Hamas-Führung um Khaled Meschal in Damaskus war: Former Mossad chief Danny Yatom on Wednesday welcomed the death of Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Imad Mughniyah in a bomb blast in Damascus, calling it "a great achievement for the free world in its fight on terror." "Mughniyah was one of the most dangerous and cruel terrorists of all time," said the Labor MK. "There are numerous intelligence agencies and countries that have been pursuing him, and the one that was successful in reaching him [has proven itself] - to have a high intelligence and operational capability." Yatom called Mughniyah's death a serious blow to Hezbollah, both in terms of morale and in terms of its operational capabilities, saying the assassination could only have been made possible by penetrating deep into the organization. "Whoever can take him out can take out anyone in Hezbollah," he said. "It will take Hezbollah a long time to find an heir." Analyse: If Israel is behind this act, it can be seen as the most significant intelligence accomplishment in the war on terror, coming before the assasination of Fathi Shikaki, leader of the Islamic Jihad in 1995.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni toured Sderot and the Gaza vicinity communities Wednesday, along with 70 foreign diplomats, as part of Israel's international efforts to show the world the realities of Qassam fire. The diplomats were also given a security briefing by defense establishment officials, and met with residents of the various communities hit by Qassam rockets. [...] "We continue the negotiation process," she added, "but we have to be realistic – the negotiation will not fix the problems in Gaza all on its own, not in the short-run at least. On the contrary, the situation in Gaza makes it difficult to implement the results of the negotiations." In der Zone Rafah sind kleine israelische Panzerverbände zu Gange. Ein DFLP-Kämpfer wird bei einem Schußwechsel verletzt. In Jabalia kommt es ebenso zu Kampfhandlungen. Es werden heute bislang keine Qassam-Raketen gemeldet. Während dessen tourt UK-Deneral-Konsul Richard Makepeace im Gaza-Streifen um sich ein Bild über die humanitäre Lage zu machen. DEr Besuch sollte politisch nicht überbewertet werden. Makepeace ist momentan von der amerikanischen Präsenz in Jeruslaem und dem untätigen Hofstaat von Tony Blair derartig erdrückt, das er sich kaum Gehör verschaffen kann.

In der Westbank wird die Stadt Tulkarm im sechsten Tag von marodierenden IDF-Soldaten belagert. Der Islamic Jihad sucht erfolglos eine anliegende Siedlung zu beschiessen. Marodierende IDFler bringen es auf einen Rekord: Israeli military forces launched a major campaign of early morning raids throughout the West Bank on Wednesday morning, seizing 56 Palestinians in the course of a few hours. Most of the arrests took place near the city of Hebron, in the southern West Bank. Witnesses said that more than 30 Israeli military vehicles stormed the town of Beit Ummar, conducting house to house searches, seizing 43 young men and imposing a curfew.

Ansonsten "Progress": Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says it is possible to advance significantly the resolution of the issue of borders in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, in spite of a shared concern by officials of both sides, and the United States, as to their ability to realistically achieve a detailed agreement by the end of 2008. [...] Persian Gulf nations believe Israel will strike at Iran's nuclear facilities rather than allow Teheran to develop nuclear weapons capabilities, Reuters quoted a senior Kuwaiti adviser as saying Tuesday. [...] Fatah is undergoing unprecedented internal reforms to democratize the ailing movement in the face of the electoral threat from political rivals such as Hamas and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. [Jaja, erst die Demokratie abschaffen und dann eine demokratische Reform durchführen. eine neue Geschmacksrichtung...]