2 From Debka: Syria and Iran/Is France Next for the "Madrid Treatment"?

1. DEBKAfile Exclusive: A large, high-ranking Syrian delegation of 40 generals on secret mission to Tehran

Led by Maj. Gen. Yahya L. Solayman, War Planning chief at the Syrian armed forces General Staff, the delegation represents all branches of the Syrian armed forces. On their arrival on April 18, the Syrian officers went straight into conference with Iranian defense minister Brig. Gen. Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar, Revolutionary Commanders chief Maj. Gen. Yahya Rahim-Safavi and dep. chief of staff Maj. Gen. Hassani Sa’di, who is Iran’s chief of military war preparations. The Syrian visitors were taken around RG and armed forces training installations and given a display of the latest Iranian weapons systems, including stealth missiles, electronic warfare appliances and undersea missiles and torpedoes. They also visited the big Imam Ali training base in N. Tehran, where hundreds of Lebanese Hizballah and Palestinian Hamas and Jihad Islami terrorists are taking courses.

In Washington and Jerusalem, there is little doubt that the two allies timed the Syrian delegation’s mission to Tehran as a rejoinder to US defense secretary Robert Gates’ Middle East tour last week.

Israel sees four causes for concern:

1. The unusually large size of the Syrian delegation and the presence of operations officers from the various army corps.

2. The elevated positions of the Iranian officials hosting the Syrians: the top men with responsibility for preparing the RGs and armed forces for armed conflict.

US and Israeli intelligence experts agreed in their talks during Gates’ two-day visit to Israel last week on the object of the Syrian mission: to tighten operational coordination at the highest level between the Syria military and Iran’s armed forces and Revolutionary Guards.

3. The installations and weapons shown the Syrian officers. The intelligence estimate is that they saw the weapons systems soon to be consigned by Iran to the Syrian army and Hizballah, as well as the types of assistance pledged for Syria in the event of a military showdown with the United States or Israel. Syrian-Iranian consultations must also be presumed to have cleared the routes by which these weapons would reach Syria and Hizballah in a military contingency.

During the 2006 Hizballah-Israel war, Iran ran an airlift to Damascus through Turkish airspace and over the Mediterranean.

4. The unusual length of the visit. Monday, April 23 the Syrian officers were still busy in Tehran after six days and showed no sign of leaving.

DEBKAfile: Will al Qaeda use violence to prevent Sarcozy becoming French president? The Madrid rail bombing worked in Spain April 23, 2007, 10:41 PM (GMT+02:00) The right-centre contender Nicolas Sarcozy has a better than good chance of winning France’s presidential runoff on May 6, after his 31% vote in the first round topped the 26% gained by his leading rival, the Socialist Segolene Royal. DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources report: The countdown has begun at the contenders’ campaign headquarters, but also at the secret lair of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the latest manifestation of the vicious Algerian Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat -GSPC. Its heads are plotting to run interference on the poll’s outcome by a major terrorist attack in Paris, possibly coordinated with strikes in several French cities. French and Spanish security and anti-terror agencies concur on the probability of this scenario and are therefore taking precautions. The mass-circulation Spanish El Pais reported Monday, April 23, that al Qaeda is deep in preparations for mega-attacks in Spain and France. Aware of the threat, Sarcozy told Radio Europe 1 last Thursday, April 19: “The principal menace to France comes from Algeria, from the GSPC network that has transformed into al Qaeda. They have members in several European countries, including France.” Our counter-terror sources confirm the intelligence that the Algerian GSPC is working hard to repeat the “success” of al Qaeda’s 2004 Madrid rail bombings, which left 200 dead and hundreds more maimed - and turned Spain’s elections around. The ruling conservative Popular Party, one of the Bush administration’s foremost allies in Iraq, was consigned to defeat, and the Socialist Workers’ Party, opposite number of Segolene Royal’s Socialists, was elevated to power. The analogies are an open temptation to al Qaeda. 1. In 2007, as in 2003, al Qaeda’s North African and European networks are in high gear, focusing on Algeria and Morocco, Spain and France. The group mounted two attacks in Algiers on April 11, coming dangerously close to government center to kill 24 people and injure 200. In Morocco, a hot chase by security forces starting on April 10 exposed the fact that a band of 12 terrorists was at large in Casablanca. Our sources report the two operations were not coordinated, but they were orchestrated by the same headquarters and point to the impressive operational capabilities of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. 2. The al Qaeda jihadists view Sarkozy as a dangerous enemy of radical Islamic organizations in France, who must be prevented from attaining presidential office, exactly like Spain’s Jose Maria Aznar. His foreign policy is likely to friendlier to the United States than that of Royal. 3. Sarkozy is viewed as foe by millions of Muslims living in France from his tough record as interior minister. Royal in contrast wooed the Muslim vote with promises of advantages. A terrorist attack that brings the Socialist contender to power will give al Qaeda a huge prestige boost with French Muslims. 4. DEBKAfile reports that the sources warning of the danger to Sarkozy’s candidacy add that it is shared by British premier Tony Blair, who steps down next month. Al Qaeda seeks vengeance on Blair and his Labor government for sending the British army to fight its legions in Iraq and Afghanistan.