The Saudi terrorist mastermind, Majed ibn Muhammad al-Majed, has been captured by Lebanese intelligence forces and is being interrogated in Beirut. He is believe to be head of the Saudi-funded Abdullah Azzam Brigade that had masterminded the November 19 twin car bombings of Iran's embassy in Beirut. The terror bombings killed 26 people and injured another 150. It will be interesting to see what information Majed provides.
A massive car bomb exploded in Beirut's commercial district early today killing the former finance minister, Mohammad Shatah and five other people. At least 10 buildings were set on fire as ambulances rushed to the scene to pick up the wounded and dead. The explosion is bound to sharpen divisions in Lebanon. Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri hinted at Hizbullah's involvement, something the resistance group does not indulge in.
Failure of the foreign conspiracy to topple the government of Bashar al-Asad has resulted in fighting spilling over into Lebanon. In addition to fightnig, such as in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, assassination of Hizbullah commanders and fighters has also intensified. Hassan al-Laqqis, a prominent Hizbullah commander was the latest victim, assassinated last night as he returned home. Two gunmen shot him at close range.
The main terrorist sponsors in the Middle East--Saudi Arabia and zionist Israel--collaborating closely with each other, appear to be behind the twin suicide attacks earlier today in Beirut. Their target was the embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Lebanon. At least 23 people have been killed and 146 injured according to Lebanese health ministry officials.
Sectarianism is inbuilt into the confessional nature of the political system in Lebanon but recent developments have given it a new twist.
The Muslim East (Middle East) has been in the throes of revolutionary fervor for more than six months. Two dictators have been driven from power; others are teetering on the brink while some are also fighting back with mixed results.
After two weeks of political uncertainty, the situation in Lebanon began to stabilize on January 25 when the Hizbullah-led alliance secured the support of 68 parliamentarians compared to 60 for the ousted Prime Minister Saad Hariri. President Michel Suleiman asked Najib Mikati, another former prime minister, to form the new government.
The Lebanese government collpased on January 12 following the resignation of 10 Hizbullah cabinet ministers. Another minister, Adnan Sayed Hussein, an ally of Hizbullah, resigned a few hours later bringing the total to 11 ministers quitting the 30-member cabinet.
One ordinary spectator said, “I just came today to say welcome to our home… Iran helped to rebuild Lebanon, and most of all, they helped in building a strong resistance, the first to defeat Israel, the strongest army in the region.”
By the 1990s, the civil war had ended. Hizbullah was better able to focus its energies on expelling the Zionist Israelis from the South.
The primary reason for the Zionist war machine’s military assault on Gaza was its historic defeat at the hands of Hizbullah in Lebanon.
The December 30 istishhadi operation at a remote base in Afghanistan’s Khost Province achieved two vital objectives: it demolished virtually the entire crop of CIA officers operating in the field, and it blew the cover off Jordan’s deep involvement with the Americans in Afghanistan causing it huge embarrassment at home...
The larger story from Lebanon’s June 7 parliamentary elections was neither the “defeat” of Hizbullah, as the Western media claimed, nor the resounding victory for the US-Saudi backed and financed March 14 movement. Its real significance lay in the fact that it may usher changes in Lebanon’s political landscape in ways that would have been unthinkable barely five years ago.
Tiny Lebanon (population, 4 million) seems to be getting far too much attention from the US on the eve of parliamentary elections scheduled for June 7. There is palpable panic in Washington at the prospects of the Hizbullah
Three more Israeli spy rings were uncovered in Lebanon leading to the arrest of several persons last month bringing the total to nine arrests over the year. Three persons—two Lebanese and one Palestinian—were arrested on April 25. The Lebanese were identified as Ali Mantash and Robert Kfoury, and the Palestinian as Mohammad Awad.
In recent months, there has been a worrying rise in violent salafi sectarianism in the northern Lebanese port-city of Tripoli, a dangerous new development in the country’s delicate communal balance. KHALIL FADL discusses the background and potential of this trend among Lebanese Sunnis.
During the first months of 2006, Shaikh Hasan Nasrallah, the leader of Hizbullah, and Ehud Olmert, the prime minister of Israel, both set out clear goals for their people. After the withdrawal from Ghazzah the previous year, Olmert promised a solution to the problem of Hizbullah on Israel’s northern border, and Israeli and US military officials held a series of meetings in Washington and Tel Aviv to draw up plans for a war to destroy Hizbullah
There is open talk of impending war in Lebanon these days. Lebanese of many factions are speculating about potential scenarios for another war being waged on Hizbullah by Israel. These discussions concentrate on the question of when, rather than whether, such a war will erupt.
George W. Bush’s tour of the Middle East last month was reminiscent of old-style imperialism, when emperors would occasionally tour their vassal states to assert their overlordship and remind their local underlings of their place. George W. Bush concluded his Middle East tour last month by telling Syria, Iran and their allies to “end their interference” in Lebanese politics. This came just a few days after the US president sent “a clear message to the Syrians – that you will continue to be isolated, you will continue to be viewed as a nation that is thwarting the will of the Lebanese people.”
The fighting in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp outside Tripoli last year drew attention to a little-noticed phenomenon in Lebanon, the growth of salafi jihadi influence among the Sunni community. NASR SALEM discusses the background and implications of this development.
