“…Lebanon's Brotherhood reveals fight alongside Hezbollah in the South”“This coincided with the announcement issued by Islamic groups in Lebanon, about the formation of an Islamic Sunni front raising the flag of the Jihad, and confirming it aims to form a united reference for the Sunnis in Lebanon, as one of its leaders revealed to Al Arabiya.net. In his interview with Al Arabiya.net, Ibrahim Al-Masri from the Islamic Group in Lebanon, revealed information about his group fighting alongside Hezbollah by saying that: ‘In the Southern villages, we have a Group of brothers who are committed to defend their towns in coordination with Hezbollah. The size of the coordination varies according to the circumstances…’.
“He then said: ‘There are many Islamic Sunni villages on the border strip…, and the Islamic Group has a preaching presence in them as well as many institutions, and is hence playing its legitimate and national role in defending these areas’. He insisted that the combatants of the Group ‘have no armament problem and they have calculated this a long time ago, whereby they have stored foodstuffs and defense weapons, and are doing well in carrying out their duties’.
“He then indicated they were ‘partly armed, i.e. with defensive weapons, and have no missiles like those launched by Hezbollah’. He pointed out there was a coordination with Hezbollah and that there were ongoing meetings being held with its leaders ‘in the context of the Islamic resistance’, but that ‘the group acted on the basis of a personal decision to defend the Islamic presence in these areas’.
“The Al-Fajr Forces [the Dawn Forces], the military wing of the Islamic Group in Lebanon, had participated in 1982, when the Israeli invasion started, ‘in resistance operations against the occupation alongside Hezbollah members before this party was formed, had declared together the formation of the Islamic resistance, and continued under the name of the Al-Fajr forces’, according to Al-Masri. In Lebanon, the Islamic Group offers humanitarian aid via several rescue and medical associations…, in addition to providing moving clinics to assist the displaced…
“Ibrahim Al-Masri then criticized talks about a ‘Shi’i extension in Lebanon and the region’, and said that such talks: ‘Led to confessional strife. We believe they are dubious and do not serve the interests of the Muslims, neither the Sunnis nor the Shi’is. We stand with Hezbollah in the face of these talks which generate strife’. In that same context, Al-Masri said that most of the Muslims in Lebanon have the same opinion as that of his party regarding Hezbollah, and referred to last week’s convention which ‘included all the Sunni Islamic movements… We only heard about the necessity to declare the Jihad, and those convened represented around 90% of Sunnis in Lebanon’.
“On the other hand, the formation of the ‘Islamic Action Front’ in Lebanon was announced, including Islamic movements and organizations from different Lebanese regions. Fathi Yakan, one of the most prominent founders of this Front, said to Al Arabiya.net that it included Islamic organizations from all the Lebanese provinces in the North, South, the Bekaa and Beirut… He indicated that the beginning of the formation of this Front occurred in the North, when the protests against the offensive cartoons were taking place.
“The Sheikh said that the main goal behind the formation of this front was to ‘establish a reference for the Sunni sect’. He indicated that: ‘The establishment [of the Front], doesn’t mainly aim to support Hezbollah, but we might meet in the future in Jihad action, even though we are with the Jihad pulse and consider ourselves in the same trench as Hezbollah. However, the Front was formed to express the position of the Sunni reference in Lebanon…’.
“He said that the reference of Mufti Sheikh Rashid Kabbani was an ‘official reference’, whereas he referred to the Front as being ‘popular… and none of us cancels out the other’. He said: ‘We are ready for the Jihad… We have our own strategy and are in accordance with Hezbollah… The Front isn’t affiliated to it and isn’t controlled by any party or regime. The Jihad is part of its duties and we can’t stand by and not do anything’.” - Al-Arabiya.net, Middle East
