This did not get any attention. The Ba`thist are most vicious and most criminal and most brutal against other Ba`thist--when they accuse them of betrayal. Syrian and Iraqi Ba`th were far more nasty toward one another than they ever were against Israel. Shibli `Aysami is a former leader of the Ba`th who split off from the Syrian B`th to join the Iraqi-led branch of the Party. He is a former deputy prime minister of Syria and a man in his mid-80s. He came to Lebanon weeks ago, and was kidnapped while strolling near `Alay. This is a typical Ba`thist crime by the Syrian regime. When the Syrian regime intervened militarily in Lebanon in 1976 (with US/Saudi/Israeli support to crush a Leftist-PLO movement), they immediately chased and killed all middle and upper-level Ba`thist who belonged to the other branch of the party. `Aysami is still missing. I presume him dead. Syrian Ba`th does not forgive Ba`thists for their "sins."