Israel Matzav

Hezbullah orders its members to leave Syria

Following Saturday's car bomb in Damascus in which seventeen people were killed, Hezbullah has ordered its members to leave Syria and return to Lebanon. The warning was issued by a web site belonging to the Lebanese opposition.

The Web site also said that since top Hizbullah operative Imad Mughniyeh's assassination in Damascus in February, the organization's members were warned to take extra precautions while visiting the Syrian capital, and that the call to avoid the city completely was issued following the recent bombing.

"Hizbullah considered Syria a safe haven for its people where they didn't have to take serious precautions [but] now it has become dangerous," the statement read.

Hizbullah's concern stemmed from a suspicion that extreme Islamic organizations planned to harm its members.

Moreover, Hizbullah was not alone in its instructions to avoid the capital. Hamas, said the Web site, is also adopting a renewed policy of caution.

According to the statement, Syria's security was threatened on two fronts. The first were populated areas within the country that pose a target to terror organizations arriving from overseas. The second, said the website, rested in the defense echelon itself, which, according to the statement, was influenced by foreign defense factors.

Heh.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:03 AM