Pressure exerted on Arab states over weapons that could be used against Israel
Ian Black, Middle East editor
guardian.co.uk, Monday 6 December 2010
"The US has worked discreetly to block the supply of Iranian and Syrian weapons to the Palestinian movement Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah, pressuring Arab governments not to co-operate – in many cases where the requests were based on secret intelligence provided by Israel.
State department cables released by WikiLeaks show that Sudan was warned by the US in January 2009 not to allow the delivery of unspecified Iranian arms that were expected to be passed to Hamas in the Gaza Strip around the time of Israel's Cast Lead offensive, in which 1,400 Palestinians were killed.
US diplomats were instructed to express "exceptional concern" to the Khartoum authorities. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Chad were informed of the alleged Iranian plans and warned that any weapons deliveries would be in breach of UN resolutions banning Iranian arms exports.....
Months later the media reported that in mid-January Israeli planes mounted a long-range bombing attack on an arms convoy in Sudan's Red Sea province. The Sharq al-Awsat newspaper quoted a US official as saying Sudan had been warned in advance about the shipment.
State department documents record that Khartoum then privately accused the US of carrying out two air attacks in eastern Sudan: one in January 2009, with 43 dead and 17 vehicles destroyed, and another on 20 February, with 45 dead and 14 vehicles destroyed. "We assume that the planes that attacked us are your planes," a senior Sudanese official said......
In March 2009, Jordan and Egypt were informed by the US of new Iranian plans to ship a cargo of "lethal military equipment" to Syria with onward transfer to Sudan and then to Hamas. Host nations were requested to require that the flights land for inspection or deny them overflight rights. It is not known whether any deliveries went ahead......
At the end of that month Egypt's intelligence chief, General Omar Soleiman, told US officials Egypt was "succeeding" in preventing Iran from funnelling financial support to Hamas......
Only rarely do the US cables show evidence of direct Israeli requests to the US to block arms deliveries, probably because they would be highly classified. But in one bilateral meeting in Tel Aviv in 2009 a senior state department official noted "most requests to third countries to deny arms transfer overflights are based on Israeli intelligence. Additional information/intelligence from the government of Israel would ensure greater co-operation"........
Syria's deputy foreign minister, Faisal Miqdad, countered that the message showed that "the US has not come to a mature position [that would enable it] to differentiate between its own interests and Israel's". But US allies in the west and the Arab world were told bluntly: "These are US concerns. We are not carrying somebody else's 'water' on this issue" – a clear reference to Israel......
Syrian spy chief tells all
The US and Syria are at odds over Hamas, Hezbollah and, until recently, foreign jihadis in Iraq. So it was a surprise for the state department's top counter-terrorism official when the head of one of Syria's secret services turned up at a meeting in Damascus this year – and proceeded to describe his methods......
"By all means we will continue to do all this, but if we start co-operation with you it will lead to better results and we can better protect our interests," Mamlouk concluded."
Ian Black, Middle East editor
guardian.co.uk, Monday 6 December 2010
"The US has worked discreetly to block the supply of Iranian and Syrian weapons to the Palestinian movement Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah, pressuring Arab governments not to co-operate – in many cases where the requests were based on secret intelligence provided by Israel.
State department cables released by WikiLeaks show that Sudan was warned by the US in January 2009 not to allow the delivery of unspecified Iranian arms that were expected to be passed to Hamas in the Gaza Strip around the time of Israel's Cast Lead offensive, in which 1,400 Palestinians were killed.
US diplomats were instructed to express "exceptional concern" to the Khartoum authorities. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Chad were informed of the alleged Iranian plans and warned that any weapons deliveries would be in breach of UN resolutions banning Iranian arms exports.....
Months later the media reported that in mid-January Israeli planes mounted a long-range bombing attack on an arms convoy in Sudan's Red Sea province. The Sharq al-Awsat newspaper quoted a US official as saying Sudan had been warned in advance about the shipment.
State department documents record that Khartoum then privately accused the US of carrying out two air attacks in eastern Sudan: one in January 2009, with 43 dead and 17 vehicles destroyed, and another on 20 February, with 45 dead and 14 vehicles destroyed. "We assume that the planes that attacked us are your planes," a senior Sudanese official said......
In March 2009, Jordan and Egypt were informed by the US of new Iranian plans to ship a cargo of "lethal military equipment" to Syria with onward transfer to Sudan and then to Hamas. Host nations were requested to require that the flights land for inspection or deny them overflight rights. It is not known whether any deliveries went ahead......
At the end of that month Egypt's intelligence chief, General Omar Soleiman, told US officials Egypt was "succeeding" in preventing Iran from funnelling financial support to Hamas......
Only rarely do the US cables show evidence of direct Israeli requests to the US to block arms deliveries, probably because they would be highly classified. But in one bilateral meeting in Tel Aviv in 2009 a senior state department official noted "most requests to third countries to deny arms transfer overflights are based on Israeli intelligence. Additional information/intelligence from the government of Israel would ensure greater co-operation"........
Syria's deputy foreign minister, Faisal Miqdad, countered that the message showed that "the US has not come to a mature position [that would enable it] to differentiate between its own interests and Israel's". But US allies in the west and the Arab world were told bluntly: "These are US concerns. We are not carrying somebody else's 'water' on this issue" – a clear reference to Israel......
Syrian spy chief tells all
The US and Syria are at odds over Hamas, Hezbollah and, until recently, foreign jihadis in Iraq. So it was a surprise for the state department's top counter-terrorism official when the head of one of Syria's secret services turned up at a meeting in Damascus this year – and proceeded to describe his methods......
"By all means we will continue to do all this, but if we start co-operation with you it will lead to better results and we can better protect our interests," Mamlouk concluded."
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