An unconfirmed report in the Kuwaiti press claimed that Lebanon's Hizbullah had planted clandestine cells across Syria since the latter began its indirect peace talks with Israel 10 months ago.
The cells have been ordered to help in an "imminent coup against the Syrian regime" in case it signed a peace agreement with Israel, the report says.
The report was based on Lebanese security sources, who were fired during the 1990s and replaced by officers chosen by the Syrian regime. These sources quoted members of a Lebanese Shi'ite party, who oppose Hizbullah and its Iranian patron, the Kuwaiti daily A-Siyasa reported.
The Iranian-backed Hizbullah, said the sources, is worried that should Syria reach an agreement with Israel, it would "deliver Hizbullah to Israel on a silver platter."
The unconfirmed report further claimed that Hizbullah's former chief of operations, 'Imad Mughniyya, was responsible to the formation of several of the 40 cells in Syria. Mughniyya was assassinated last February in a mysterious explosion in Damascus.
The cell members are disguised as public sector workers, restaurant waiters and owners of small companies, A-Siyasa reported. Hizbullah agents have recruited hundreds of Syrian citizens with low incomes, and paid them large sums of money.
"The Asad regime is currently undergoing a massive reconstruction in preparation for its future status in the region," two figures close to Hizbullah Chairman Hassan Na'srallah allegedly told the paper's sources.
"The regime is trying to mobilize Syrian public opinion to accept the notion of its returning to the Western realm of influence and its negotiations with Israel. Hizbullah leaders do not know when the imminent Syrian coup will occur, but they are sure it will happen sooner or later," the sources concluded.
A political science professor at the American University in Beirut has, however, expressed his opinion that A-Siyasa is aiming for sensation.
"A-Siyasa is known for its low working standards," Prof. Hilal Khashan told The Media Line.
Khashan, nevertheless, did assess that relations between Hizbullah and Syria were not good. Khashan described them as being tactical, rather than strategic.
"Hizbullah is concerned that the Syrian regime will eventually sign a peace treaty with Israel. People I know in Hizbullah are very upset with the Syrians and even blame them for the assassination of 'Imad Mughniyya.
“But as far as Hizbullah setting up cells in Syria with the aim of staging a coup against the regime – I believe this is farfetched," said Khashan.
Copyright Media Line News Agency 2008
http://www.themedialine.org/news/print_news_detail.asp?NewsID=23472
