Israeli Defense Minister, Shaul Mofaz, has hinted that his country was ready to stage a massive hostage-taking campaign against Lebanon that could include the abduction of Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. Israeli newspapers said Monday the mood of Ariel Sharon's cabinet is one of wresting the abduction initiative from Hizbullah by kidnapping scores of Lebanese figures, including high-ranking Hizbullah leaders, if Nasrallah rejects the last-minute terms the Israeli cabinet has added to the swap deal.
According to Monday's reports, Mofaz had, when he was army chief of staff, drawn a carefully thoughtout plan for the abduction of Nasrallah from his headquarters in south Beirut, but that the government at the time refused to approve this plan.
The resurrection of Nasrallah's abduction is seen by Israeli media analysts as a psychological gimmick designed to terrorize Nasrallah into taking Israel's new stance on the swap deal into careful consideration and avert a reckless reaction. They are convinced that Israel would never be able to grab the heavily guarded Nasrallah. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
