Syrian army brass in Lebanon grumble about Hezbollah action

By Daniel Sobelman Ha'aretz 3 May 2002

Top Syrian army officers stationed in Lebanon are unhappy with the expanded
freedom of action Syrian President Bashar Assad has allowed Hezbollah. It
seems that the Syrian intelligence chief in Lebanon, General Ghazi Kana'an,
is among the senior officers who have expressed reservations about Hezbollah
in recent months.

Kana'an, who has served in Lebanon for over two decades, is considered the
person who directs Syria's affairs in this neighboring state, which has
enormous economic, political and strategic importance for Syria. As part of
this role, Kana'an is known to have met regularly with top Hezbollah
officials in Lebanon and communicated messages from Damascus, including
demands that the Lebanese Shi'ite organization tone down its operations.

Over the past two years, however, a direct channel of communication has
developed between Assad and Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah.
One analyst noted yesterday, "The Syrian officials in Lebanon are not
satisfied" and that they have expressed anger during recent months about
Hezbollah's behavior.

Two months ago, when Hezbollah was escalating its actions along Israel's
northern border, an unnamed Syrian source told the Lebanon press that there
are still limits and parameters to Hezbollah's activities in the contested
area of Shaba Farms. An Israeli source complained that, "Assad is giving the
Hezbollah too much latitude for action and this would not have happened
during his father's period. Assad is being led instead of leading, among
other reason, because of his admiration for Nasrallah."

Syria has recently supplied Hezbollah with long-range rockets, in addition
to dozens brought into Lebanon by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in 1999.
Unlike the long-range Katyusha rockets brought into Lebanon by Iran, which
remain under the direct control of Iranian officials in Lebanon, Syrian
rockets were passed on to Hezbollah control.

The assessment in Israel is that senior Syrian officers - in both Lebanon
and Syria - understand better than the 35-year-old president, the dangers of
unrestrained Hezbollah actions. This is why his advisers convinced him last
year to refrain from responding to the destruction of two Syrian radar
installations in Lebanon by Israel.

Senior analysts in Israel and elsewhere attribute Bashar's freewheeling
approach to Hezbollah as part of a maturation process and to the fact that,
unlike his father, he did not have a "formative experience" in a direct
conflict with Israel.