Saudi writer criticizes Shi'i-Sunni understandings in Lebanon

Text of report by Saudi-owned leading pan-Arab daily Al-Sharq al-Awsat website on 22 August

[Article by Tariq al-Humayd: "Will the Sunnis and the Shi'is Be Reconciled?"]

The above question is superficial, is it not? What is more superficial than this question is the so-called document of understanding signed between the Shi'is and the Sunnis in Lebanon, which took place between the Iranian Hezbollah in Lebanon and some representatives of the Salafi groups there.

The Sunni-Shi'i document of understanding is not a religious effort by the Ulema of the nation [religious scholars] in order to protect Islam and Muslims from the conflict between the sons of the two sects, even if all the previously-exerted efforts have failed. The document is an attempt to polish the image of the sons of Velayat-e Faqih, specifically the Iranian Hezbollah.

The recent statements by the Muslim Brotherhood, who deny any role in signing this document, seem as an attempt to promote the Iranian Hezbollah, and to make it acceptable. The contents of the interview by our newspaper with Dr Abd-al-Sattar al-Mulayji, the leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, are eye-catching. He says that the aim of the agreement signed by the Iranian Hezbollah and the Salafis in Lebanon is that [Hezbollah leader Hasan] Nasrallah's party is preparing itself for an upcoming battle against Israel, and it wants to "shelter itself from the evil of these people," i.e. the Salafis.

The question here is: Are "these people," i.e. the Salafis, the ones who carried out the conquest of Beirut, occupied it, and tortured its Sunnis on 7 May? Will "these people" forget that Hasan Nasrallah came out publicly to take pride in being a member of the Velayat-e Faqih party?

The least that can be said about the Sunni-Shi'i document of understanding is that it is a wretched attempt to polish the image of Hasan Nasrallah and the Iranians behind him in the eyes of the Sunni street. Unfortunately, this polishing attempt is taking place with the participation of the Muslim Brotherhood and its branches, such as Hamas, as well as the participation of affiliates of Damascus, some of whom are known, and some others who have not yet been exposed.

The Syrians have an interest in calming down the situation in Tripoli now, and if the battles that erupted and calmed down between the Sunnis and the [pro-Syrian] Alawis continued, their fire might reach Damascus, while Syria does not want a confrontation with Hezbollah now.

Therefore, the Sunni-Shi'i document of understanding is an exposed attempt to restore the glitter to the image of Hasan Nasrallah and his Iranian party, and an attempt to avoid the Sunni mine in Lebanon and in the region, a mine that constitutes now a real fear for Hasan Nasrallah and his Iranian party.

Moreover, this document is a strong indicator of all the efforts undertaken by Iran and by Syria to split the ranks of the Sunnis in Beirut. These efforts are helped by the statements of the Muslim Brotherhood, who has not condemned the occupation of Beirut by the Iranian Hezbollah.

Regardless of the existence of a centuries-old, historical conflict between the Sunnis and the Shi'is, sectarian grouping, as opposed to the concepts of the state and citizenship, is totally unacceptable. On the other hand, the attempt to polish the image of the Iranian Hezbollah, which occupied the Sunni part of Beirut by the force of weapons, is also unacceptable and shameful, because the aggressor should not be rewarded!

It is well known that the political dispute in Lebanon has deteriorated politically and militarily to the worst extent. However, as the situation reached this level of this game of the so-called understanding between the Sunnis and the Shi'is at a time when we all know that the Iranian Hezbollah relies on the legitimacy provided by arms, it is a new Iranian conspiracy against the Arab region, specifically the Sunnis.

Source: Al-Sharq al-Awsat website, London, in Arabic 22 Aug 08