IRAN IS BUILDING ROCKET FACTORY IN SYRIAN-CONTROLLED SOUTH LEBANON
JERUSALEM 25 Apr. (IPS) Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon revealed Wednesday that Iran had recently begun building its own rocket base in Lebanon from which it can fire rockets or long-range Katyushas to Israel.
The revelation was made during a wide-range interview with the right-wing "Jerusalem Post" that is to be published full text on the paper’s Friday edition.
"The most dangerous factor in the region is terror, and the centre of world terror is in the area between Afghanistan and Lebanon", Mr. Sharon said, adding that Iran has started building a base in Lebanon from which rockets or long-range Katyushas capable of reaching the centre of the Israel can be fire".
He said discussions on this threat, and how to combat it, formed a major part of his recent discussions in Washington, but did not elaborated.
Mr. Sharon’s statement was published less than 24 hours after Sheikh Hasan Nasrollah, the leader of the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah threatened Israel of more "jihadi" (holy) operations to support the Palestinian struggle against the Jewish occupation.
Hojjatoleslam Nasrollah’s warnings to Israel came during a fiery speech he delivered Tuesday at the opening ceremonies of the Iran-sponsored and organised Conference to support the Palestinian Intifada.
Observers said this is the first time that Tel-Aviv talk about the existence of an Iranian rocket and Katyusha factory in South of Lebanon, an area controlled by Syria and out of the reach of the Lebanese army.
There was no comment from either Tehran or the Hezbollah on Mr. Sharon’s, but both routinely rejects as "disinformation and lies" reports in the Israeli press about Iran arming the Hezbollah with new weapons.
Elsewhere in the interview with the Jerusalem Post’s Jeff Barak and Herb Keinon, Mr. Sharon said he would send Foreign Minister Shimon Peres to Egypt to discuss Israel's response to the Egyptian-Jordanian diplomatic initiative aimed at restarting negotiations with the Palestinians.
Peres is to travel to Egypt before his planned visit to Washington next week.
"Mr. Sharon described the joint Egyptian-Jordanian proposal as "important", and added that his government was working on it, but he did not explained why at first he had rejected the initiative.
"We received a proposal. We think it needs some changes and improvements. We're working on it now, and I thought it would be good idea if he [Peres] went to Egypt and explained our position", Mr. Sharon said.
But the French news agency AFP quoted the Palestinian International Co-operation Minister Nabil Shaath as having said that the Palestinians have rejected any Israeli demands for the modification of a peace plan put forward by Jordan and Egypt.
Mr. Sharon also revealed that Israel is holding high-level economic discussions with the Palestinians concerning a number of large-scale projects, including joint use of Israel's planned water desalination plant, improving the water supply to Hebron and Kiryat Arba, and a Gaza-Tulkarm train line.
Regarding the lessons learned from last week's IDF incursion into Gaza, Sharon acknowledged candidly that the incident showed Israel has to be "very cautious in coming up with [territorial] solutions, because the process is irreversible.
"You gave, you cannot go back in again and hold on to the territory. There's no such thing as thinking that if you made a mistake, you can go back in again".
The prime minister described the present situation with the Palestinians
as drawn-out and complicated and said this demands firmness of purpose and
determination on Israel's part. Asked whether the country has these qualities,
he said: "There are many Israelis who do." SHARON IRAN ROCKETS 25401