Israeli spy master: 'Syrian president could be toppled'
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Saturday, April 30, 2005
JERUSALEM: Syrian President Bashar Assad could be ousted from power as
his regime fractures under immense political pressure, the head of
Israeli military intelligence said in an interview published Friday.
"His regime's stability is in great danger today, more than in the
past. The economic problems will get worse" following Syria's troop
pullout from Lebanon completed this week, Aharon Zeevi said in the
newspaper Yediot Aharonot.
"He has problems with the Americans because of terrorists infiltrating
from Syria into Iraq, water problems with Turkey, and an argument over
territory that he should have transferred to Jordan. He is seen as a
weak leader. I'm not sure that Bashar has the strength or talent to
make a decision. ... If he does not show leadership, Bashar could
certainly become a victim of circumstances," Zeevi said.
Israel is still technically at war with Syria and still occupies the
Golan Heights, a territory seized from Syria during the 1967 war.
"People are already saying that perhaps Bashar is not supplying the
goods, that perhaps he should be replaced," Zeevi said, warning that
Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network "does not intend to sit by and do
nothing" as Syria fractures.
General Asaf Shaukat, head of intelligence and Assad's brother-in-law,
and the president's brother, Maher Assad, as possible leadership
contenders.
On the home front, Zeevi said Israeli intelligence services had
thwarted "more than 10 terror attacks against Israeli targets abroad"
in the past month, without giving further details.
In the last attack, 34 people, including 13 Israelis, were killed in
October when militants carried out bomb attacks in Egypt's Sinai
Peninsula, popular with Israeli holiday makers. - AFP
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