London Weekly: Hizballah Has Chemical Warheads; Israeli Source: It Won't
Dare
[With thanks to www.mideastweb.org/mewnews1.htm ]
GMP20030130000049 Tel Aviv Ma'ariv in Hebrew 30 Jan 03 p 26 [Report by
UK-based correspondent Dafna Vardi: "Hizballah Has Chemical Warheads"]

[FBIS Translated Text] 122-mm missiles, armed with chemical warheads, have
been shipped to Hizballah, according to London-based Foreign Report, which
cites military intelligence sources. The sources added that disarmed
missiles of the same type were found by UN inspectors in Iraq. According to
an unconfirmed report, the missiles that reached Lebanon had come from Iraq.

An Israeli defense source told Foreign Report that "Hizballah won't dare use
chemical weapons against northern Israel, but the fact they have long-range
missiles with chemical warheads will become a significant deterrent factor
when Israeli intervention is considered."

When Hizballah attacked the IDF with artillery and antitank missiles at
Shab'a Farm last week, the Israeli response was moderate due to Prime
Minister Sharon's promise to President Bush that Israel would not exacerbate
the tension in the region prior to the war on Iraq. Foreign Report
maintains, however, that when a war is launched, Sharon will have an
opportunity to try and destroy Hizballah's terrorist infrastructure.

Intelligence sources told the weekly that Sharon and Mufaz have two reasons
to use the Iraq war to attack Hizballah. One is that the world will be
preoccupied with the big Middle East war and pay no attention to the "little
war," and the second is that the Israeli population will be called to
preserve a state of alert during the Iraqi offensive, and should Hizballah
launch missiles against northern Israel, the local residents will be in
shelters in any event.

Foreign Report quotes a source close to Mufaz, who said: "We might as well
attack the Hizballah infrastructure right now instead of being caught by
surprise should they launch a brutal attack of their own." [Description of
Source: Tel Aviv Ma'ariv in Hebrew -- Independent, second largest
circulation Hebrew-language paper]