Hizbullah orders members out of Syria
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST Oct. 1, 2008
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Hizbullah has ordered its members to refrain from visiting Syria until
further notice, a Web site belonging to the Lebanese opposition wrote on
Wednesday.

The organization was responding to bombing Saturday in Damascus that left 17
people dead. Many Hizbullah members, including senior officials, were
recalled to Lebanon after that attack.

The Web site also said that since top Hizbullah operative Imad Mughniyeh's
assassination in Damascus in February, the organization's members were
warned to take extra precautions while visiting the Syrian capital, and that
the call to avoid the city completely was issued following the recent
bombing.

"Hizbullah considered Syria a safe haven for its people where they didn't
have to take serious precautions [but] now it has become dangerous," the
statement read.

Hizbullah's concern stemmed from a suspicion that extreme Islamic
organizations planned to harm its members.

Moreover, Hizbullah was not alone in its instructions to avoid the capital.
Hamas, said the Web site, is also adopting a renewed policy of caution.

According to the statement, Syria's security was threatened on two fronts.
The first were populated areas within the country that pose a target to
terror organizations arriving from overseas. The second, said the website,
rested in the defense echelon itself, which, according to the statement, was
influenced by foreign defense factors.