DOES SYRIA WANT WAR WITH ISRAEL?

Syrian General Wants War: Head of Syrian Military Intelligence Has Convinced Assad There Is No Chance to Win Golan Heights Through Negotiations - Smadar Peri (Ynet News)

• Arab officials believe Gen. Asef Shawkat, the head of Syrian military intelligence and Assad's brother-in-law, wants to drag Israel into a conflict in Lebanon, and possibly Syria, next month.
• Shawkat told Assad that in a future war with Israel, rocket attacks on Israeli cities would force Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak to hold talks on the return of the Golan.
• Shawkat, who has been linked to the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, fears that Assad might hand him over to an international tribunal to ease U.S. pressure on his regime.
• The interrogation of Ahmad Marai, the deputy commander of the Fatah al-Islam terrorist group which has been fighting for months against the Lebanese Army in a northern Lebanon Palestinian refugee camp, has also revealed a connection to Shawkat.

  See also Syrian VP: We Don't Want War to Get Golan Back
  Syria is not interested in embarking on a military conflict with Israel in order to win back the Golan Heights, Syrian Vice President Farouk Ashara said Tuesday. (Jerusalem Post)