Special Supplement to Last Blog Issued this Morning
November 2, 2010
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
Begin Excerpt 1 from THE JERUSALEM POST
Hizbullah making preparations to seize power in Beirut’
By JPOST.COM STAFF
11/02/2010 09:59
Group conducting simulations in case of Hariri indictments, ‘Asharq Alawsat’ reports; retired general says group could seize power in 3 days.
Sources in Lebanon said that Hizbullah is preparing to seize power in Beirut should the UN Hariri tribunal implicate the group in the assassination of the former prime minister, Lebanon’s Asharq Alawsat reported on Tuesday. The report said that the group is preparing for a “zero hour scenario,” conducting security simulations in the capital city.
The report said that Hizbullah, Amal and other pro-Syrian groups were in close contact and coordination relating to a plan to take control of Beirut, the road to the south of the city, and neutralizing Christian and Sunni areas.
The sources said that the groups were already plotting zones of who would control which areas, in a day-after scenario.
According to the sources, Beirut was divided into three zones of military control, allocated to Amal, Hizbullah and the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, and that alternative plans were prepared by Hizbullah for a scenario where the other groups could not hold
control of their zones.
Additionally, the report indicated that the “zero hour” refers to a scenario in which indictments are issued by the Hariri tribunal, followed by civil unrest in the streets of the Lebanese capital devolving into violence and a security vacuum.
The report, quoting retired Lebanese Brig.-Gen. Amin Hattit who is known to be close to Hizbullah, said that the plans contained many realistic elements.
He said that Hizbullah’s current strategy is to prevent strife, but if they are unable to prevent an explosion of unrest, they will take advantage. He said, “Everyone knows that the temptation will be limited geographically to areas where there is a Shi’ite majority,” referring to areas of Beirut, the Bekaa Valley region, and the south of the country.
Hattit concluded that “if this scenario does take place, Hizbullah would be able to seize power in three days, or a week at most,” and that the “era of Hariri in Lebanon” would end forever.
Begin Excerpt 2 from Middle East Online
Hezbollah warns Hariri indictment would be ‘explosive’
Sheikh Naim Qassem says options are many if indictment accuses members of Hezbollah of Hariri’s assassination
Middle East Online
November 2, 2010
BEIRUT – Hezbollah’s number two warned on Tuesday of the risks of an explosion in Lebanon if members of his party are indicted by a UN-backed tribunal on the assassination of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri.
“We have nothing to say regarding what we might do if the indictment accuses members of Hezbollah,” Sheikh Naim Qassem told BBC Arabic in an interview, a transcript of which was distributed by Hezbollah.
“The options are many and it depends on the circumstances at that time,” he added.
“What we do know is that such an indictment is a warning bell equivalent to lighting the fuse, to igniting the wick for an explosion, and is dangerous for Lebanon.”
The UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon is tasked with finding and trying those behind the February 14, 2005 Beirut bombing that killed Hariri
and 22 others.
Tensions over the STL have been mounting in the turbulent Mediterranean country since reports emerged that the tribunal was likely to indict senior Hezbollah figures.
Hassan Nasrallah, head of the Iranian- and Syrian-backed militant group, has repeatedly warned of unspecified repercussions in such an event.
But Saudi-backed Prime Minister Saad Hariri, son of the slain premier, has vowed to see the investigation through.
On Thursday, Nasrallah warned all Lebanese they should boycott investigators probing the Hariri assassination, saying further cooperation would be tantamount to an attack on his movement.
His remarks came a day after a group of angry women attacked two STL investigators who were meeting with a doctor at a gynaecology clinic in a Hezbollah-controlled suburb of Beirut.
Sheikh Qassem also revealed that the party had refused for months to respond to requests from UN investigators.
“Since the month of Ramadan (August), we have refused to hand over individuals, either close to Hezbollah or residing in our areas, whose names featured on a list that investigators wanted to interrogate,” he said.
“Since that date there have been no requests from the tribunal and (investigators) began to turn to individuals, as with what happened in the gynaecology clinic.”
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