Lebanon’s Sunnis Feel Threatened Following Arsal Ambush
Following the conflict in the town of Arsal, the doubt and distrust between Sunni and Shiite political groups in Lebanon have spread to the military, writes Elie Hajj.
Large or small, every incident in Lebanon these days takes on a sectarian dimension which in one way or another is connected to the crisis in Syria. In some areas the country’s large Sunni population interacts with the revolutionaries in its neighboring country and occasionally provides them moral and material support. Meanwhile, the country’s large Shiite community supports the Syrian regime in much the same manner.
Both communities have had to repeatedly bury the bodies of men killed in clashes inside Syrian territory. Most recently Hezbollah mourned the death of one of their own last Saturday, which stated that he was “martyred while performing his duty of jihad,” and failed to give any further details.
As for the Lebanese Sunni militants who died in Syria, it later became clear that they were not part of an organized group. They had traveled to Syria sympathetic to the rebels’ cause having been inspired by the sermons of imams in Tripoli. In fact Tripoli, the second-largest Lebanese city and the capital of the north, is teeming with Sunni Islamist organizations, which receive material support from a variety of political figures. The Future Movement still maintains the strongest popular presence there, as is the case in Akkar and in every other area in Lebanon, which hosts a large Sunni population, including Beirut, Sidon and some parts of the Bekaa.
Saad al-Hariri, leader of the Future Movement, draws in considerable support for his sect. He manages this despite his long stay abroad in Saudi Arabia, the decline in the financial capacity of his movement, and the political and media campaigns waged against him by his rivals.
