Syria and Al Qaida

This past week, one very important event took place that might reshape the political relationship between the United States and Syria.

The story goes like this:

On May the 20th, the Lebanese security forces arressted an individual in Ashrafieh, in a hotel, after they have been watching him for a while. This man's name is Ahmad Merhi. The information that he has been divulging are helping to reconstruct the workings of the Nahr el bared terrorist organization.

To make a long story short, this man turned out to be the vital link between the terrorists and the Syrian intelligence headed by Asef Shawkat, the Syrian's president's brother in law. Both teams have managed to smuggle an explosive expert by the name of Abu Ahmad el Iraqi as well as other Al Qaida fighters into Lebanon to operate under the name of Fateh al Islam.

This might seem to the Lebanese as old news, but to the United States, this should be an extremely important piece of information, since it establishes a link between the Syrian intelligence and Al Qaida.

I wonder what the democrats in the United States will say when they find out this information. Will they still be willing to conduct "talks" with the Syrians to fight terrorism in the region?

You can read about this subject more here, here, here and here.