Insurgents in Syria being armed: ex-general
Voice of Russia, Feb 2 2012
Arab media report that the reconstruction of Kleyate airport in the north of Lebanon has begun. Officialy, the airport is to be restored to contribute to the country’s economic development and to provide more opportunities for the national tourism industry. But some experts believe that the airport is being reconstructed for other purposes. At present the international airport in Beirut, with passenger turnover of 6 million people a year, fully meets the current needs of the country. It takes 2-3 hours to get to the airport from any corner of the country. Apart from it Lebanon has one more airport in the north: Khamat, which was built near the coast especially for the needs of the tourist industry. However the airport has never been used, because of the civil war in Lebanon in the 1970-1990s. Now, in peacetime, it would be logical to start using Khamat, rather than Kleyate, which was built in the mountains as a military airport and lacks civilian infrastructure. It is difficult and expensive to transport construction materials along the roads in the mountains. Nevertheless, Kleyate airport has some advantages. It is located on the Lebanese-Syrian border. Reportedly, the decision on its reconstruction was made soon after the visit of a Western delegation to Lebanon on Jan 20. We hear from the retired Lebanese general Amin Khteit:
The opening of the airport is officially motivated by economic reasons and by the needs of the tourism industry and local residents. But it seems that other reasons are behind it. For example Burhan Ghalioun, the head of the oppositional Syrian National Council, ordered a special plane with medicaments to Beirut, as it was reported, for Syrian refugees in Lebanon. But there is no need for Syrians in Lebanon to order medicaments abroad. In fact there are proven reports that that plane delivered Israeli weapons which later were sent to the insurgents in Syria. That is why there are grounds to assume that the airport in the north of Lebanon will become a transshipment base to supply weapons to Syrian insurgents. I suppose there is also an agreement with the Lebanese officials on the establishment of a US military base in this district.
If the US settles down in the Kleyate district there will be many possible ways to use the airport. One of the most probable is that it will become the base for US drones. Viktor Litovkin, editor of the journal Independent Military Review, says:
Such an airport is quite suitable to become a base for drones. Of course, there are different types of drones and some of them even don’t require any special conditions. In this particular case everything will depend on the tasks set for the flying vehicles.
Perhaps there are those who believe that the military operation against Syria is a settled issue and in this case the former military airport in Lebanon will have to remember its early days.
Niqnaq 