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Lebanese Sunnis Unwilling To Challenge Hezbollah

Lebanese Sunnis are tapping into deep-rooted feelings of bitterness caused by the suffering of their co-religionists in Syria and directed at the Damascus-backed Lebanese government and Hezbollah. Despite the radicalization, writes Nicholas Blanford, the majority of Sunnis seem unwilling to challenge Hezbollah on the battlefield again anytime soon.
Supporters of Sunni Muslim Salafist leader Ahmad al-Assir stand under an an umbrella at an open-ended sit-in in Sidon, southern Lebanon, June 29, 2012. Lebanese Sunni Muslim Salafists are holding an open-ended sit-in  after their leader Sheikh Ahmad al-Aseer called on Lebanese armed parties - especially Shi'ite Hezbollah - to give up their arms and have the army and the security forces be the sole possessors of arms in the country. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho   (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST)

BEIRUT - A "martyr's" portrait of a youthful solemn-faced Ziad Ghalayini gazes down from a two story-tall poster emblazoned across the facade of a small shabby apartment building in a narrow street in Beirut’s Hamra district.

Ziad was just 17 when he was shot dead by a sniper in May 2008 during the brief seizure by Hezbollah and its allies of west Beirut, the takeover being an unprecedented response to the then Lebanese government's decision to shut down Hezbollah's private communications network.

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