JERUSALEM, 10 May 2004 — Israeli Transport Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who heads a far-right party in the governing coalition, said yesterday that the military should bomb “strategic targets” in Damascus to put an end to attacks by the Syrian-backed Hezbollah militia.
“In order to put an end to Hezbollah’s attacks, it is necessary to attack strategic targets in Damascus, such as the army headquarters, the central electricity board, the telephone exchange, the public broadcasting house or the presidential palace, even if this last site has a more symbolic character,” Lieberman told army radio.
“It is effectively Syria which is responsible for everything that is going on in Lebanon, and it is through (Syrian) territory that the weapons from Iran reach Hezbollah,” said the minister, who heads the National Union party.
His comments came just days after a major flare-up on the border with Lebanon, which left one Israeli soldier dead and five injured.
Despite the clashes with Hezbollah, chief of staff Moshe Yaalon said yesterday he doubted the Lebanese militia was looking to escalate the situation.
“I get the feeling that Hezbollah knows it is not in its interest to provoke such an escalation, but in any case we have the means to make it understand,” Yaalon told public radio.
Ex-Minister Charged
With Drug Trafficking
Former Israeli Energy Minister Gonen Segev was charged yesterday with drug trafficking and falsification of documents, court officials in Tel Aviv said. The minister is accused of trying to smuggle 30,000 pills of the designer drug ecstasy into Israel, by hiding them in chocolate wrappers or on his body.
The charges allege that he tried twice without success to bring the drugs from the Netherlands into Israel using a diplomatic passport with a falsified expiry date. Dutch police found the drugs and alerted their Israeli counterparts. Segev insists he did not know the drugs were in his possession. The court ordered Segev be remanded in custody until May 27.
