BULLETIN No.11

UN probe chief Detlev Mehlis set to continue mission
By Leila Hatoum
Detlev Mehlis, the head of a U.N. investigation team into the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, is likely to stay on, Lebanese political sources said on Sunday, after Beirut asked for the probe to be extended. The interrogations of five Syrian officials are also expected to begin Monday at UN headquarters in Vienna without the supervision of UN chief investigator Detlev Mehlis.
BBC Mehlis slams 'Syrian tactics' The head of a UN inquiry into the killing of Rafik Hariri accuses Syria of using propaganda against him.
MNF-I & Iraq-Syria Border
Washington File 01 Dec 2005 -- Completed ops have re-established Iraqi control of the Iraq-Syrian border, says MNF-I's spokesman
Mehlis and rule of law in the Arab world
By Rami G. Khouri
The Washington-Damascus show is nearing its dramatically climactic moment. In the coming months, the protagonists must either conclude there can be no coexistence and accordingly fight it out to the death; or, they can clear up the ambiguities and falsehoods they hurled at one another, reconcile, embrace, and live happily ever after.
What Staying on Course Really Means
by Robert Dreyfuss
Asia Times
Nearly three years into the war in Iraq, the Bush administration tells us that it wasn't about weapons of mass destruction or Iraqi ties to al-Qaeda, but about America's holy mission to spread democracy to the benighted regions of the Middle East.
Israel, US disagree on post-Assad Syria
Jerusalem Post - IsraelIsrael and the US are at odds over the future of Syria in a post-Bashar Assad era, The Jerusalem Post has learned. In a strategic ...
Israel fears a destabilized Syria
Ha'aretz - Tel Aviv,Israel
Syria's instability is on the minds of Israeli officials trying to prepare themselves for the outcome of the final report by special UN investigative commission ...
Despite talk of turning the page, Syria continues with the same old story
Syria has had a long history stirring up trouble in Lebanon. This legacy made it all the more surprising and encouraging when on the sidelines of a recent Euro-Med summit in Barcelona, Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Sharaa jointly declared that Lebanon and Syria had turned a "new page" and that the two countries would strive for "healthy and strong relations."
BBC Syria forces tackle 'terrorists' Clashes between security forces and "terrorists" in northern Syrian reportedly leave five people injured.
Syria accused over mass graves found at intelligence HQ
The Salafi-Jihadist Movement in Iraq: Recruitment Methods and Arab Volunteers
By Murad Batal al-Shishani
This is the second in a two-part series on al-Zarqawi and al-Qaeda in Iraq. This article focuses on the Salafi-jihadist base from which al-Zarqawi draws support and new recruits.