Israeli Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel warned Tuesday, Jan. 29, that Syria is falling apart and no one knows what the next day may bring. Another senior Israeli officer told AFP that large Hizballah forces are parked outside Assad’s chemical weapons stores. If they seize them, Israel will have to decide on the spot whether to attack Syria or Lebanon. In Cairo, Egypt's army chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, warned: “The state is on the brink of collapse.” debkafile: Israel sees nightmares on its doorstep.

Conflicting reports on former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak's state of health appeared Sunday night, July 17. State TV said he was in a coma after a stroke. This was denied by the head of the Sharm el-Sheikh hospital. Earlier, as Egypt sank deeper into lawlessness and economic stagnation, the military junta reshuffled the cabinet to placate protesters who accused the generals of "stealing the revolution." Gulf emirates pledged aid if Cairo suppressed dissent and turned away from Washington and against Iran.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has sent his defense minister Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi in secret to Washington to ask for US backing for his embattled regime against the street protest movement which gained in violence on its second day, Wednesday, Jan. 26.  debkafile's Washington sources report that in secret meetings, Tantawi warned top US officials that without a crackdown on the protesters, the regime was doomed. The Egyptian army is on emergency standby.