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Last update - 07:33 06/12/2008
Report: Lebanese general Aoun met Mossad agents during Paris exile
By Haaretz Service and Reuters
Tags: Lebanon, Syria, Michel Aoun 

The pro-Syria Lebanese general Michel Aoun met Israeli Mossad agents on several occasions while in exile in Paris between 1991 and 2005, the French daily Le Figaro reported on Friday.

The report came as Aoun, the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, was visiting Damascus.

The Christian ex-military chief, who was forced into exile after a failed coup against the Syrians, has since aligned himself with Damascus and Hezbollah.
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The report also said that the French intelligence authorities warned Aoun against these meetings, but he ignored their advice.

Aoun turned the page on a turbulent past with Syria on Wednesday in a visit to Damascus condemned by rivals in Lebanon who still see the neighboring state as a threat to its sovereignty.

Syrian President Bashar Assad greeted Aoun warmly at his hilltop palace in a meeting underlining the dramatic shift in the position of the former general who was defeated in battle by Syrian forces at the end of Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war.

"We spoke with our hearts and minds ... so there remains no trace of a past in which there are many painful things," said Aoun, who heads the largest Christian bloc in parliament.

"Our meeting today is a promise of a bright future," he added at a news conference afterwards.

Buthaina Shaaban, an adviser to Assad, said Aoun's visit opened "a new era in relations between Syria and Lebanon".

Aoun holds no official post, but he is an influential figure in Lebanon's sectarian politics and an ally of the powerful Shi'ite Hezbollah, a pro-Syrian faction with a guerrilla army.

Relations between Damascus and Beirut have improved this year after an agreement to calm a bitter power struggle between a U.S.-backed coalition opposed to Syrian influence in Lebanon and an alliance led by Hezbollah and its allies, including Aoun.

Aoun, 73, was prime minister of an interim government when he was forced into exile under Syrian fire in 1990.

He returned to Beirut in 2005 after Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon following an international outcry over the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri.

Syria's opponents in Lebanon accuse Damascus of orchestrating the Hariri killing and other assassinations since his death. Syria denies the charges.

Aoun was a harsh critic of Syria's role in Lebanon from exile in France but says he changed his views once Syrian troops had ended their 29-year presence in his country.

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      1.   IF TRUE, AN OBVIOUS MOSSAD LEAK TO DISCREDIT AOUN 00:33  |  Arik Silverman 06/12/08
      2.   Le Figaro Issues Death Sentence For Lebanese General 01:03  |  Jeff Northridge 06/12/08
      3.   #2 J.Northridge, it`s called free press 02:06  |  Conroy 06/12/08
      4.   Not a big deal 05:31  |  Lb 06/12/08
      5.   Aoun A Christian Traitor 07:40  |  Khaled 06/12/08
      6.   Lebanon and Hezbollah 08:10  |  Mario Sala 06/12/08
      7.   PROUD LEBANESE 08:42  |  Ibrhaim Hak 06/12/08
      8.   Michael Aoun - Our Man in Damascus 09:01  |  James 06/12/08
      9.   that is just an example... 09:07  |  northern neighbor 06/12/08
      10.   To PROUD LEBANESE - Congratulations 09:41  |  James 06/12/08
      11.   coincidence 09:53  |  Antoine 06/12/08
      12.   #2no thats not true 09:59  |  Antoine 06/12/08
      13.   all the lebanese christian leaders have links 10:09  |  harzion 06/12/08
      14.   Lebanese--And Disgusted By Aoun 10:22  |  Mark G 06/12/08
      15.   To Khaled, Aoun is not a Traitor, he is a Lebanese Hero 11:11  |  gus 06/12/08
      16.   Ibrhaim Hak - would you like to win again? 11:23  |  Fish 06/12/08
      17.   Is this a resume about Aoun? What about the Mossad story? 11:32  |  Maronite 06/12/08
      18.   To No. 15 - Lebanese Hero? 12:21  |  Khaled 06/12/08
      19.   Important note to Mark G 14:16  |  Natasha 06/12/08
      20.   Conroy # 3 Freedom Of Speech Has Its Limits 14:20  |  Jeff Northridge 06/12/08
      21.   Perhaps a different censor 16:56  |  Mark Lincoln 06/12/08
      22.   Aoun a lebanese hero????? 17:37  |  Siad 06/12/08
      23.   Aoun congratulated Kuntar, the child murderer 18:14  |  Steve 06/12/08
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