by GILES
Saturday, Jan. 10, 2004 at 1:56 PM
AMSTERDAM - The Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, which was the main reason for the United States to unleash the war last year, seem correct. And in Syria. A high Syrian information officer detailed data have played on about this to a compatriot in exile.
The dissident journalist Nizar Najoef - who got Unesco-prize for press freedom in 2000, while in captivity – relayed Saturday a letter and a map with the exact locations of very secret mount places to the telegraph. Najoef named during a meeting in café in Paris the exact places…
where among others chemical weapons are, for which the Americans have been feverishly looking for a long time. It starts with a tunnel in a mountain at Al-Baida, two kilometres from Masjaf. A second mountain location a factory of the Syrian air force in the village of Tal Snan, between Hama and Salamijja has been located. A third, an airfield lies at Sjinsjar, east of the road between Hama and damascus. Some dozens of meters deep weapons lie stored in tunnels, which the 661st battalion of the air force uses. The three hotspots lie in the western part of central Syria. According to the writer of the letter, the weapons with are hidden in barrels and are under the control of the chief of the presidential bodyguard, General Balmy Himma Sjaliesj. He has the assistance of his nephew Asaf, who works for the firm Bacha-Ir, which is owned by the presidential Assad family. The company has offices in Beirut, Damascus and Bagdad. The writer considers the same firm to have been responsible for smuggling Iraqi oil to Syria and - from Syria - of weapons to Iraq.
On altitude
Najoef believes that the shelters, beside chemical weapons, would also contain components of rocket systems would contain, brought to safety by Saddam Hoessein to avoid detection. Najoef is firmly convinced that the US for a long time has had this information, but for political reasons would not make use of it.
The Americans, as it happens, have not yet finished with their dealings with Damascus, so the journalist reasons. He defends this explanation on the basis of the view in favour of diplomatic consultation of the Secretary of State, Colin Powell. He is, as he says, in conflict with his defence colleague Donald Rumsfeld, who has another opinion. "when the US wants to get rid of the Syrian dictatorship, then of course they will find the news that they want", noted Najoef laconically. “Because then they will play the card which contains this story.”
Najoef gladly reveal the mysteries which have been entrusted to him. After spending almost ten years in Syrian prisons - protesting government suppression of the press - he sees nothing in the Powell method aside from saving face, according to Powell-method. “I know the Syrian regime; it is barely different from that of Saddam Hussein."
Najoef wants to prevent general public from being incompletely informed about Syria. If I read how French, British, but also Dutch newspapers report that Basjir Assad, after all the sons of his father, is now bringing democracy comes bring to our country, I die laughing. Also see how the EU deals with Damascus. It is shameful. Last December the European Union signed a political and economic cooperation accord with Syria. In this in one small move the suggestion was only passed that the country could perhaps do something about the human rights situation. By contrast the EU exercised itself during earlier negotiations with the Mediterranean states very firmly about respecting human rights and making it an absolute condition for better relations.”
Dutch telegraaf by Joost Margés
2la.org/syria/index.php