Epstein Secrets

East Update [[email protected]] Middle East Update - May 25-31, 2011 Middle East Update May 25-31, 2011 Syria International pressure on Damascus is mounting. After the US imposed sanctions on the Syrian leadership earlier in May, the EU foreign ministers agreed to impose travel bans and to fre

leadership to immediately stop using force against its people or the G-8 countries would "consider taking further measures". At the same time, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah—the leader of the Lebanese party Hizbullah-called on the Syrian people to give the government time to effectuate reforms, arguing that President Assa

anonymity, it was assumed that, according to the plan, the regime would continue its cooperation with Hezbollah to gain control of the outskirts of Damascus, via a battle in eastern and western Ghouta, as well as through beginning another battle in the Qalamoun region. The latter is adjacent to the Leb

Respond To a Western Strike on Syria? By: An Al-Monitor Correspondent in Beirut August 31. -- About three months ago, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah decided to send his elite military units to Syria to support the military efforts of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in facing opposition f

munity. EFTA00662939 Lebanon is divided between those for and against the Syrian government, and for and against Hezbollah's military support for Damascus. Against this background it will be surprising if many Arab heads of state feel enthusiastic about attending the next summit in Kuwait (Syria is al

the self-proclaimed champion of Palestinian rights, is also taking notice of the camps' destabilization and division. Hezbollah's Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah recently gave a speech on current events in the region, a speech that, at first blush, curiously focused on the primacy of resistance against Israe

wo attacks aimed at the group. On June 20, a suicide bomber detonated his payload at a checkpoint in Dahr al-Baidar, on the road between Beirut and Damascus, killing a 49-year-old Internal Security Forces officer and wounding 32 others, making it the first suicide bomb to hit Lebanon in twelve weeks. Th

cooperation as further evidence of Shia dominance of the country's political system and its security institutions. Hezbollah's Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallah, recently boasted during a leadership meeting, "We are ready to sacrifice martyrs in Iraq five times more than what we sacrificed in Syria..." Give

at=least until recently, it is Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's prime ministe=. Iran's appeal has been tainted by the brutal tactics of its allies, in=Damascus and Beirut, who may remain strong materially but have lost out in=terms of image and ideas. The long-term decline of the Islamic Republic in the Mi

s longstanding anti-western, anti-Israeli stand. Hi=bollah's support of the Assad regime has similarly dented its legitimacy= Gone are the days when Hassan Nasrallah, its secretary-general, was the h=ro of the Arab street — 3 EFTA_R1_01401467 EFTA02384040 Sunni and Shia — for his position at the forefront of

amas's leadership has not gone public with its decision, it is worth noting that the majority of its external political staff has already evacuated Damascus, where it has a key office managed by Meshal. Their next destination is likely to be Cairo and Doha, where leaders there have committed to sponsor

disarm, forge new strategic alliances or end its military struggle against Israel. In fact, in a rare public appearance this month, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah declared that his party will remain defiant, side with Assad's Syria and never relinquish its arms. If Hamas, an ally of Hezbollah, Syria and Iran

ces reportedly killed more than 30 protesters on Friday and used attack helicopters in the northwestern town of Jisr al-Shughour. The following day, Damascus announced that 120 police and security forces were ambushed and killed by terrorist elements in Jisr al-Shughour. There were reports of armed clash

n Egypt met with important political actors during a visit in Lebanon. For the first time, it did not ask for a meeting with Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah. The current relationship between the two factions is markedly different from the decades of alliance against western influence in the region. The

ors to that point. But to the Saudis, not to mention Bahrain's ruling family, even the occasional appearance of posters of Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah amid crowds of Shiite protesters pumping their fists and chanting demands for regime change was too much. They saw how Iran's influence has grown in

rested yesterday. To be sure, the opposition didn't succeed in organizing a major march in the capital. But a crowd of no more than 600 marched from Damascus to the nearby town of Douma, where security forces have killed at least 30 demonstrators in the past two weeks. Yesterday was a success for the oppo

takia for some time. Elaraby: When I flew to Syria 10 days after taking office, they also tried to tell me that there had been no riots in Aleppo or Damascus. I was told that gun battles had only occurred in a few towns near the border, because rebels had fired on security forces there. HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_02

nd then avoided defeat in a subsequent round of fighting in 2006. In a poll of Arab public opinion taken in 2008, the three most popular leaders were Hassan Nasrallah, Bashar al-Assad and Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, in that order. But this sense of inexorable ascendancy in which the Iran-led bloc liked to cloak itself has