By Al-Shorfa
By Waleed Abu al-Khair
Lebanese are condemning the advent of a new group calling itself “Jabhat al-Nusra (JAN) in Lebanon” which recently claimed responsibility for several bombings in the country and called for further attacks.
While Lebanon’s pluralism makes it fertile ground for moderate ideas, war in neighbouring Syria and political and economic tensions in Lebanon have fuelled the expansion of the group, which appears to be linked to the al-Qaeda branch in Syria with the same name, analysts told Al-Shorfa.
“The emergence of new names for al-Qaeda, such as ‘al-Qaeda in the Levant’, is not new, as this name emerged years ago in a statement issued on February 15th, 2005, in which it denied involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri,” said Lebanese University political science professor Wael Shreim, who specialises in political Islam.
JAN in Lebanon, meanwhile, does not appear to have a Lebanese leadership and is linked to foreigners taking refuge in the country, he said.
The group claimed responsibility for recent attacks in Lebanon, including the January 21st bombing in Haret Hreik in southern Beirut, and a car bombing in Hermel, in east Lebanon.
In January, the Marwan Hadid Brigades, a group claiming links to both JAN in Lebanon and al-Qaeda-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades, claimed responsibility for rockets launched at Hermel.
The Abdullah Azzam Brigades were behind the double suicide bombing that hit the Iranian embassy in Beirut in November.
The leader of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades is said to be Saudi national Majid al-Majid, who also was on the kingdom’s most wanted list. Al-Majid was arrested in early January by the Lebanese security services and later died in custody of kidney failure.
In 2006, al-Zawahiri instructed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq at the time, to export jihadist fighters to the Levant to establish an Islamic state, he said.
The forces that moved to the Levant included the Abdullah Azzam Brigades and the Marwan Hadid group, Shreim said.
“This confirms that supporters of al-Qaeda ideology and even other jihadists are subordinate to [forces] outside Lebanon,” he said.
After following the actions of some takfiri groups in Lebanon, Shreim said he has seen a pattern: “A group of young people organise around takfiri thought that is hostile to opposing views and have no one to follow but the terrorist organisation al-Qaeda. They then pledge allegiance to the organisation and get a response in the form of support — even if that support is only verbal — from al-Qaeda leaders or Ayman al-Zawahiri himself.”
Lebanese political activist Nabih al-Akoum also said al-Qaeda ideology has spread in Lebanon.
“Al-Qaeda has become an ideology rather than an organisation with a military structure like other militias,” he said. “Every group or organisation that comprises youths who subscribe to salafist-jihadist thought and tendencies […] pledges allegiance to the head of the al-Qaeda pyramid, al-Zawahiri, and he in turn adopts them.”
This ideology crept further into Lebanon after Hizbullah entered the Syrian conflict, giving that fight a more sectarian character, and prompting al-Qaeda factions to target Hizbullah strongholds and Iranian interests in Lebanon, as Iran supports Hizbullah, al-Akoum said.
Consequences of al-Qaeda expansion into Lebanon
Should al-Qaeda’s ideas spread further in Lebanon, the country would suffer, Shreim said.
“The initial damage will stem from security tension, which in Lebanon takes on a regional and sectarian character, and this would be difficult to curb once it expanded, as the bulk of Lebanon consists of areas with mixed religions and sects,” he said.
“Note that al-Qaeda is trying to infiltrate more than one area, in particular in the south, the north and Bekaa, all of which are mixed areas,” he added.
Such an expansion also would make other Lebanese sects such as Shias and Christians “a target for a-Qaeda’s gunfire and criminal operations”, Shreim said.
Attacks and abuses taking place in Syria in the name of religion testify to the path taken by such groups, he said.
“Al-Qaeda’s expansion would have devastating consequences on the Lebanese heritage as a whole and its image as a country of coexistence and harmony among religions, not to mention the devastating consequences to the economy, which is in near-ruins as it is,” he added.
Al-Qaeda found in the sectarian tension in some Levantine countries and in the Syrian crisis an opportunity to emerge and use some parts of the Levant as safe havens, said Hani Nasira, an Egyptian author who specialises in Islamist groups.
“Accordingly, al-Qaeda is active independent from the goals of the revolutions and reform and regional relations, for in its eyes the [entire] world is infidel, while it alone stands for faith,” he told Al-Shorfa.
Nasira said he believes al-Qaeda’s infiltration into Lebanon would create sectarian tension, “especially given that the escalation of the Syrian revolution and Hizbullah’s entry into the conflict, have fuelled sectarian wars”.
Al-Qaeda exploits conditions to gain followers
Muslim preacher Sheikh Mahmoud Abdullah, of Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jamaah in Lebanon, said JAN and other groups that follow takfiri ideology are trying to infiltrate the Lebanese social fabric and reach in particular young Sunnis.
These groups are being helped by several factors, including tough “social and economic conditions in areas of Lebanon such as the north and Bekaa and sectarian sentiment among Sunni youth, which has been fuelled further by Hizbullah’s blatant entry into the war in Syria “, he said.
Al-Qaeda has used media it propagates via online forums and social networking sites to spur its expansion, Abdullah said.
“But more important is the role played by some clerics and preachers who exploit the aforementioned conditions, as was proven recently with the success of some of them,” such as Lebanese sheikh Ahmed al-Assir, who recruited dozens of youths under the pretext of fighting Hizbullah, he said.
It was revealed later that al-Assir was raising funds and gathering weapons for JAN, he said.
“Al-Assir exploited this sectarian fanaticism and tension and fuelled them with provocative speeches, creating an environment for the young men who fought with him that was alien to their own,” Abdullah said.
“Many youths may be drawn by clerics without knowing they have become al-Qaeda elements, and become convinced they have taken up arms to defend their religion and Muslims in Syria and Lebanon,” he said, warning that this could further spread al-Qaeda ideas and later create a generation of young Lebanese loyal to the group.
Current political, security and economic conditions in the country do not favour moderate clerics who are trying to confront these radical ideas, Abdullah added.
Lebanese journalist Ahmed Jaber said al-Qaeda’s presence in Lebanon may be currently limited to a welcoming environment that adopts its ideology under several names, adding that “al-Qaeda so far has no organisational structure in Lebanon.”
“Until further notice, the situation in Lebanon will remain unwelcoming to jihadist organisations,” he told Al-Shorfa.
“An extremist atmosphere would emerge and spread should Lebanese politics grow increasingly gridlocked, and recede when an atmosphere of compromise prevails,” he said.
However, prevailing sectarian tension in the region makes it easy for JAN in Lebanon to do work for the organisation’s leadership in Syria and Iraq, he added.
Lebanon: a fertile ground for moderation
Lebanon’s religious and sectarian pluralism makes it fertile ground for open, secular and moderate religious ideas, not extremist ones, said political science professor Shreim.
“If we look closely at ongoing sectarian tensions and their causes, we find they are transitional and primarily connected to politics,” he told Al-Shorfa. “Lebanon’s domestic conflicts, even if they sometimes take a sectarian hue, are still purely political and dissipate when the political tension dissipates.”
“This explains the limit to the spread of extremist ideas advocated by al-Qaeda and its reliance on foreign elements to prove its presence in Lebanon, or at times [its attempts] to fuel sectarian sentiment among Sunni youth under the pretext of stemming the Shia tide, especially after Hizbullah became immersed in the Syrian war,” he said.
Neither Lebanon’s history nor its politics or its geography would allow the spread of al-Qaeda ideology to the extent that makes it a dangerous pit in the region, Shreim said.
“For this reason, we currently find that the actual number of extremists who are Lebanese nationals is very small and do not serve the objectives set by this terrorist organisation,” he said.
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