Arab rage over the 2006 Mohammed cartoons wasn't so spontaneous after all. This just in from Haaretz:
A US diplomatic cable published by Aftenposten said the Syrian premier had, "several days before the demonstrations, instructed the Grand Mufti Sheikh Hassoun to issue a strongly worded directive to the imams delivering Friday sermons in the mosques of Damascus."
The riots ended when Syria "felt that 'the message had been delivered'," the cable said, quoting a Sunni sheikh whose name was blacked out.
More than 100 people were killed in the flames of violence we now know were fanned by Syria.
