Italy seizes huge explosives cache

Italian police have seized seven tonnes of the powerful RDX explosives from a container ship believed to be on its way to Syria, according to authorities. Anti-mafia police found the explosives hidden in a shipment of powdered milk at the port of Gioia Tauro in southern Calabria, Italian news agencies reported. Carmelo Casabona, the region's police chief, said investigators are not yet sure of who was in control of the shipment, but it appeared that it originally travelled from Iran.

Also known as T4, RDX is a powerful military grade explosive that has been used in several devastating attacks believed to have been carried out by the Italian mafia in past years. It was most notably used in the assassinations of anti-mafia judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, the former being blown up with his wife and three bodyguards after a bomb was detonated under a motorway. Casabona said the cargo had "the involvement of international criminal organisations," but ruled out the involvement of local mafia, know as the Ndrangheta, saying the shipment was too large.The cargo was reportedly found on a Liberian-registered ship called the Finland, which is owned by an Italian-Swiss company, MSC.

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Possible Shutdown of PFLP-GC By Syria

The Syrian regime is preparing to dismantle two major Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) bases in Lebanon, a STRATFOR source reported. One of the bases is in Deir al Ghazal Qusaya, which is an important training facility not only for PFLP-GC operatives, but also for Islamist militant groups, including al Qaeda affiliates, who are trafficked through Lebanon usually with the aid of Syrian military intelligence. The other base is in Na’me-Damur, which is located strategically on the highway that travels from Beirut to southern Lebanon and overlooks the Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport. The airport falls within artillery range of the latter base.

The source added that the Syrians are making it more difficult for PFLP-GC and Hamas officials to move around in Damascus, where each group has a base of operations. For each meeting they hold inside Syria, these Palestinian militants allegedly require a special permit from the director-general of Syrian intelligence.

Syria’s apparent clampdown on Palestinian militants operating in the Syria-Lebanon domain is yet another indicator that Damascus’ ongoing negotiations with the United States and Saudi Arabia are making real progess. According to the source, the Israelis told the Syrians through U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell that closing down these two bases was a critical precondition to resuming peace talks between Israel and Syria. Though these talks are still in limbo, both the United States and Turkey are playing an active role in getting the Israeli-Syrian negotiations back on track. The United States will also be sending a security delegation to Damascus on Aug. 19 in another sign that cooperation between the United States and Syria is growing, much to Iran’s discontent.

"Syria: Closing PFLP-GC Bases", Stratfor, 8/14/09.

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