Syria Hands Saddam's Half-Brother to Iraq

[GhostFox]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=1&u=/ap/20050227/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi officials said Sunday that Syria captured and handed over Saddam Hussein's half-brother, one of the blood-soaked insurgency's most wanted leaders, ending months of Syrian denials that it was harboring fugitives from the ousted Saddam regime. Iraq authorities said Damascus acted in a gesture of goodwill.

The future is looking brighter for the Middle East everyday. Not only was a terrorist leader captured, but it was Syria of all places that actually apprehended him. Maybe the ME working peacfully together for the good of all isn't as far off as we thought.

 

[GhostFox]

Some other excepts from the article:

"I hope all the terrorists will be arrested soon and we can live in peace," said Safiya Nasser Sood, a 54-year-old Baghdad housewife. "Those criminals deserve death for the crimes they committed against the Iraqi people."

"I consider this day as a victory for Iraqis," said Adnan al-Mousawi, a resident in Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad. "By God's will Saddam will stand in court with his officials and this will be the end of the unjust dictatorship."

Iraq's post-election Shiite Muslim power broker, United Iraqi Alliance leader Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, told AP al-Hassan's arrest signaled troubled times for the insurgency.

"Those criminals are on the run and we will chase the rest of them. We will work on arresting all the criminals, either those inside Iraq, or those in other neighboring countries, so that they can stand fair trial and be punished for the crimes they have committed against the Iraqi people," he said.

"This is a great achievement for the Iraqi security forces," National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie told Dubai's al-Arabiya TV. "It is also a lesson for others to give themselves up to the Iraqi authorities."

What a great day for Iraq.

 

[Razor]

The greatest achievement of this is that it was another hardcore Muslim country who handed him over to Iraq and that it wasn't American or Britain that did it, this will prove to the Iraqi people that they don't need the Wests help when it comes to situations such as this and that themselves, and other middle eastern countries, can stand on their own.

 

[kirovman]

Just one day after Israel blamed them a role in Friday's Tel Aviv suicide bombings...what's up with that?

Syria trying to shift the eyes of judgement elsewhere as a quick response?
Or something else?

-probably not though, that was just my initial response when I heard the news.

 

[burner69]

Did they hand him over out of goodwill though, or out of fear?

Hmmmm...

Sorry GFox, I don't mean to wee on the nice fire here, I do hope the middle east sorts itself out, and this is certainly promising news. Fair play to them.

 

[GhostFox]

Did they hand him over out of goodwill though, or out of fear?

Is either one bad? Basically you are saying they either handed him over because they wanted to, or because they were afraid not to. Either way it's a plus.

I agree that I'd rather see Syria reform on it's own, but if it's decision was caused by Assad wetting himself every night worried that the US is coming after him next, that is fine with me too.

 

[KoreBolteR]

Did they hand him over out of goodwill though, or out of fear?

Hmmmm...

Sorry GFox, I don't mean to wee on the nice fire here, I do hope the middle east sorts itself out, and this is certainly promising news. Fair play to them.

i dont think Syria are afraid tbh, they made an alliance with Iran not long ago..

this is all just to look good for the people, and the media (being mostly anti-iraq war) will love stories like this, which will affect any operations in that country.

 

[burner69]

Is either one bad? Basically you are saying they either handed him over because they wanted to, or because they were afraid not to. Either way it's a plus.

I agree that I'd rather see Syria reform on it's own, but if it's decision was caused by Assad wetting himself every night worried that the US is coming after him next, that is fine with me too.

I see what you mean, but I think you understand my underlying point too; if they did it out of fear it means they are...well... scared of repurcussions from the coalition. How many people that you are scared of do you respect, and want to be friends with?

It's gonna be an interesting decade in the middle east...

 

[K e r b e r o s]

Everyone I fear, I respect because of there abilities, not because of the "fear" they try to instill in me.

If someone I fear lashes out, I will lash out ten-fold. I put fear aside, as I've always had too -- ...

For Syria, I do not know personally, but Israel did not condemn Syria for the attack itself. It was a Syrian bomber though, but peace resolutions are still continueing.

 

[kmack]

Very convinient that this happens just a week or so after the bombings we are blaming on them. :dozey:

 

[Nofuture]

For Syria, I do not know personally, but Israel did not condemn Syria for the attack itself.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4301447.stm

"Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz has accused Syria of involvement in Friday's Tel Aviv suicide bombing in which four people were killed."

It was a Syrian bomber though

Where did you get this?

 

[Calanen]

Syria has let all of the major Palestinian terrorist groups set up shopfronts in Damascus, and gives them funding and training. I don't consider detonating explosives into a crowded cafe full of civilians as 'freedom fighting.'

I do believe that Palestine needs its own state, or country - and that this should put an end to things. However or whatever has gone before, the Israelis and Palestinians need to live together. The biggest impediment to this process was Arafat who is now dead. There are groups who live for the war, they get money, billions to keep fighting it. They don't want it to end. So of course they are going to try and sabotage the peace process. But they must not let it succeed. Take the hits, as bad as they are, and keep moving towards a peaceful resolution.

In addition, Israel has 'settlers' who are refusing to leave and hate the peace agreement. They are however a small minority, of Israelis, and will just have to accept the fact that in a boundary re-drawing, they may be packing their bags for the greater good.

I don't think that Jerusalem can ever be conceded to either side. It is going to have to be shared by them. There is no other way. The rest of the place can be divided up pretty easily and is not so contentious.

The next thing that needs to happen for both Israel and Palestine is economic development. Hopefull the peace will hold long enough for this to happen.

 

[Mechagodzilla]

Is either one bad? Basically you are saying they either handed him over because they wanted to, or because they were afraid not to. Either way it's a plus.

Well, if it is fear, then this act of goodwill could very well mean that Syria might have something to hide, as others have pointed out.

Plus, there's the fact that fear breeds animosity. As oft-used as the cliche of keeping friends close and enemies closer is, it rarely sees practice in reality. We distance ourselves from our rivals. So how can democracy occur in a mideast that at the very least feels subjugated by a democracy?
Fear of the west is what allowed groups like Al Qaeda to begin, after all, and is definitely why Iraq has so many insurgents.

The point of this whole excursion is now to liberate these peoples from fear and terror. If indeed we are using our own unique brand of fear to acheive those means, it smells to me like fighting fire with kerosene.

It would be great if they did this out of co-operation, but I'm not seeing that as likely.

 

[K e r b e r o s]

I agree with Mecha -- although I think its good the man was handed over.

I think now we can try reasoning with them -- well, for those who are up for reasoning, and not bombing the day after.