In a rare public appearance, the head of Israel's secret service agency (Mossad), Ephraim Halevy, presented on Sunday his assessment regarding the current regional security situation. According to him, Iran was continuing its efforts to develop nuclear and other non-conventional weapons, but was also sending occasional hints that it could someday in the future reconcile with Israel.
"There are Iranians in high-standing positions of influence that are saying that if there is an Israeli-Palestinian agreement ... Iran will not stand in the way of that agreement," Halevy said. "There are even covert messages of the possibility of reconciliation" emanating from Iran. Halevy disclosed that European sources with contacts in Iran say the Islamic Republic might change its policy in the long run.
The Mossad chief delivered a speech at a Conference on the Balance of National Strength and Security held in Herzeliya, a northern suburb of Tel Aviv.
"These are lone chords at the moment, and they are in no way joining to form a melody," Israel’s intelligence agency boss added, without elaborating.
However, Halevy also emphasized that Iran was attempting to develop nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, as well as expanding its long-range missile program.
Halevy called the events of September 11 the opening shot in a world war, that broke out with no prior warning and without being preceded by an international crisis as had been the case in the two previous world wars. Continuing his analogy, Halevy said that unlike the previous world wars, in this case the victim does not wish to defeat the aggressor and then commence negotiations with him, but, because of the nature of the threat, must destroy the aggressor, wipe him from the face of the earth and neutralize all support for him.
Halevy described the US-led war against international terrorism as an unprecedented development because of its focus on an organisation - Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network -- rather than a sovereign country. This campaign could eventually lead some states, such as Iran and Syria, to end their support of radical groups accused of carrying out terrorism, Mossad head declared.
According to Halevy, the Mossad has been aware "for a long time" of contacts between Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda group and “terrorist” elements in Lebanon and Iran. "We've known for a long time of ties and contacts between terror elements in Lebanon and the al Qaeda network," he said. "We've known for a long time of ties and contacts between terror nuclei backed by Iran and bin Laden's people. And we know of attempts to infiltrate bin Laden's people into Israel and the discovery of its network in Jordan."
Halevy conveyed that bin Laden wanted to topple the pro-American regimes in the Muslim world and undermine the non-Arab presence in the Muslim world, not negotiate an arrangement and have peace. The Europeans have become more sensitive to the threat of terror because of bin Laden cells' activity there. One must take the big Muslim presence there into account, he added.
Halevy noted the 380 million people who live in the European Union include 15 to 20 million Muslims. One out of 10 people in France is a Muslim. The same goes for Belgium.
Statistical predictions say the percentage of Muslims in Europe is likely to increase, he reported. Every Muslim community is a target or an area for the struggle, he said.
According to him, in the aftermath of the campaign in Afghanistan, international pressure could mount on Syrian President Bashar Assad to "bite the bullet," and crack down on radical groups in his states. The Mossad head added his agency detected signs that Hizbollah's exaggerated self-confidence is "giving way to concern about the future."
Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat lacks the will, and perhaps the ability, to take a strategic decision to end the violence in the territories and to fight extremist Islamic terrorism, Halevy told the conference. According to the Tel Aviv-based Haaretz daily, he noted that September 11th events had at first seemingly strengthened Arafat's position, but in the medium and long term, Arafat's status had deteriorated because he refused to adjust himself to the rules of the civilized world. – Albawaba.com
(Various sources)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
