Top German MP upset over Israeli claims on Hizbullah
A leading German legislator voiced anger over baseless Israeli allegations that Lebanon's Islamic Hizbullah resistance is continuing to smuggle arms from Syria into Lebanon, the weekly Der Spiegel news magazine said yesterday.
The report referred to last week's meeting between Israeli Justice Minister Meir Shitrit and the head of the German parliamentary faction of the ruling Christian Democratic Union party, Volker Kauder in which Shitrit alleged that he had proof about secret arms shipments for Hizbullah.
When asked by Kauder as to why Shitrit would not showcase the proof and evidence, the minister claimed he could not do that because of "political reasons."
Kauder replied by saying, "I am not convinced." As a consequence of the latest groundless Israeli allegations, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has urged his minister during the weekly cabinet sessions, not to speak any longer of evidence or proof in the case of Hizbullah.
"There are only hints about suspicious trucks and flights from Iran. We have no proof," Olmert corrected his ministers.
The latest episode followed last month's Israeli military provocations against German naval vessels patrolling off the Lebanese coast as part of the UNIFIL mission.
There have been at least two military incidents involving the Israeli military and German forces in the Mediterranean Sea.
In the first case, a Israeli F-16 fighter jets fired shots over a German naval ship.
In another one, Israeli fighter planes have repeatedly locked in their radar on a German helicopter which was flying over Lebanese territorial waters.
Locking in radar on an enemy aircraft is generally considered by military experts as the last step before an actual attack.
A die-hard supporter of the Zionist regime, German political leadership has been deeply embarrassed by Israel's aggressive show of military force towards the German navy whose primary role is to intercept arms smuggling by Lebanon's Islamic resistance Hizbullah.
Heading the UN naval force off the Lebanese coast, Germany has eight war ships with 1,000 naval soldiers on board.
Israeli jets have repeatedly violated Lebanese air space over the past days although UN Resolution 1701 bars Israel from launching attacks against Lebanon.
