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Hizballah Fears ‘Qaeda’ Type Attacks from Lebanese Sunnis
In September, an hour-long anti-Shi’ite propaganda film began circulating in Sunni-populated areas of Lebanon. The slickly produced film, called The Oppressed Sect in reference to Sunnis, carries the logo of the Abdullah al-Azzam Brigades, an al-Qaeda offshoot which has claimed a number of attacks in the region, including a suicide bomb attack against a Japanese oil tanker in the Persian Gulf in July.
Watching the film on a laptop computer, the Hizballah commander shook his head and tutted as he listened to an Egyptian cleric declare that Shi’ites are the paramount enemy of Sunnis, even before Jews. “This is a desperate attempt to rally the Sunni street,” he says. “This is the language of civil war, but no one wants that anymore.”
At the beginning of December, a statement purporting to be from the Abdullah al-Azzam Brigades accused the Shi’ite organization of stockpiling weapons to “slaughter Sunnis.” Shahhal and other Sunni leaders complain that they lack sufficient political and financial backing to stand up to Hizballah. Such feelings of vulnerability, resentment and humiliation could end up fulfilling Hizballah’s concerns of Lebanese Shi’ites coming under Iraq-style bomb attacks, Shahhal warned. “If Sunnis don’t get outside support to keep a balance [with Hizballah], then we have no choice but to do what we have to do, and this is one of the possibilities of what might happen.”
Lebanese militant found dead in Palestinian refugee camp
One of Lebanon’s most wanted militants was found dead in a Palestinian refugee camp that is a hotbed of Islamic extremists, Lebanese and Palestinian security officials said.
The officials said Lebanese citizen Ghandi Sahmarani, better known as Abu Ramez Sahmarani, was found handcuffed, blindfolded and shot execution-style in the back of his head.
Sahmarani, who was 45, was a leader of Jund al-Sham, a group that follows al-Qaida’s extremist ideology. His death could be a major blow for the group, which has had several leaders and members either killed or fleeing the ranks in the past few years.
The group has clashed in the past with members of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah group and with Lebanese troops.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
