Last update - 18:20 24/08/2006 Military Intelligence head: Syria goading Hezbollah to keep arms By Gideon Alon, Haaretz Correspondent

Syria is satisfied by Hezbollah's policies in southern Lebanon, encouraging the Shi'a militia to remain steadfast in its opposition to decommissioning its weapons, Israel Defense Forces' head of Military Intelligence, Major General Amos Yadlin, told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Thursday.

"The Lebanese army has deployed alongside Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, but is not replacing it," Yadlin said. "Hezbollah does not intend to leave southern Lebanon and to disarm itself. At most, it will be willing to stash away its arms along [the southern Lebanese] sector."

The military intelligence chief said Syria is attempting to draw operative conclusions from the way in which Hezbollah managed its military campaign against Israel.

"A number of days after the cease-fire was declared, Syria began gradually lowering its level of alertness and today the Syrian army is at standard alert," Yadlin said.

"Syria and Hezbollah were surprised by the determined stand made by the Israeli homefront during the course of the war," Yadlin said. "They expected Israel to sustain more casualties after they fired close to 4,000 missiles and [also] expected greater chaos in Israeli society."