Imad Mughniyeh, a major Hizbullah leader and architect of the Marine Barracks bombing in Beirut, is also a senior operations leader in al- Qaeda since 1997 and has been coordinating Hizbullah and al-Qaeda support to Zarqawi and other Iraqi insurgent elements on both the Sunni and Shia sides. The premise that al-Qaeda would never work with Iran is hogwash. Al- Qaeda leaders sought safe haven in Iran when the U.S. invaded Afghanistan and have launched operations in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and elsewhere from Iran. Indeed, the article is "sheer and utter nonsense."
David Bier --- In osint@yahoogroups.com, "Bruce Tefft" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Sheer and utter nonsense. As an Iranian proxy, Hizballah is the conduit for > al-Qaeda into Lebanon... > > Bruce > > > http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1 > <http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp? edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id= > 21003> &categ_id=2&article_id=21003 > > > > Hizbullah is Lebanon's bulwark against Al-Qaeda > 'We do not have any relations with that group' > > By Clancy Chassay > Special to The Daily Star > Saturday, December 24, 2005 > > Hizbullah is Lebanon's bulwark against Al-QaedaANALYSIS > > Since the events of September 11, 2001, there have been numerous attempts to > link Hizbullah to Al-Qaeda - some more plausible than others. Investigation, > however, reveals considerable animosity between the two groups, and two > leading academics on the subject suggest Hizbullah may be Lebanon's best > protection against an Al-Qaeda presence in the country. > > On October 28, the Kuwaiti newspaper As-Siyassa reported Hizbullah was > training Arab fighters for Al-Qaeda in Iran. In August the same paper ran a > story with the headline: "Most of [Al-Qaeda's commander in Iraq Abu Musab] > Zarqawi's men are Palestinians trained by Hizbullah." > > Then last week, the Shiite weekly Ash-Shiira claimed Al-Qaeda had set up a > major base of operations in Lebanon and that alleged Hizbullah associate > Imad Moughniye was now representing Al-Qaeda in talks with potentially > sympathetic Palestinian groups in the country. > > Hizbullah's director of media relations Mohammad Afif Naboulsi firmly denies > the alleged links to the militant jihadi network, "We do not have any > relation with that group, not in the present nor in the past. They are > working toward tearing the Islamic Nation apart, dividing Muslims into > numerous sects and mutilating the face of Islam in the world." > > Amal Ghorayeb of the Lebanese American University believes any operational > cooperation between the two groups is out of the question. "Hizbullah would > in no way share Al-Qaeda's goals. The Americans have to understand Al-Qaeda > is a threat to American security, Hizbullah is simply a threat to American > interests," says Ghorayeb. > > An expert and writer on Hizbullah, Ghorayeb says: "Al-Qaeda would never work > with Hizbullah; their greatest enemies are the Shiites. There is a very > strong cultural and religious animosity on the side of Al-Qaeda." > > Last week a Shiite cleric in Lebanon received a death threat from an > Al-Qaeda-type Salafi jihadist group confirming this hostility. > > And on July 27, Al-Mustaqbal reported that a group calling itself the > "Al-Qaeda Organization in the Levant, Umar Brigade - Lebanon Province" had > announced plans to assassinate senior members of Hizbullah along with the > country's most senior Shiite clerics and politicians. > > The statement accuses senior Hizbullah officials of "treason with the US, > British and Israeli enemies of Islam against the victorious resistance and > its great leaders ... our master Imam Osama bin Laden and the mujahid Sheikh > Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi." > > Afif dismisses the statement as "fabricated locally" but says: "These groups > have issued threats before and they find it very easy to kill so we must > take them seriously." > > According to Dr. Redwan Sayyed, considered Lebanon's foremost expert on > Al-Qaeda and a professor of Islamic history at the Lebanese university, > Salafi Jihadi ideologues, described as the intellectual voices of Al-Qaeda, > view Hizbullah with deep disdain and are threatened by the Shiite group's > popularity on the Sunni Arab street. > > > > > Contributors to pro Al-Qaeda Web sites such as Global Islamic Media > regularly refer to Hizbullah as Hizb al-Shaytan or "party of the devil" and > in 2004, a leading scholar of jihadists in Saudi Arabia Abed al- Munim > Mustafa Halimah published an article "the Lebanese Hizbullah rejectionist > school" condemning Hizbullah for being nationalist, serving local interests > and for their relationship with apostate Shiite Iran and the secular Assad > regime in Syria. > > Halimah, known as Abu Basir, accuses Hizbullah's leader Sayyed Hassan > Nasrallah of exploiting the January 2004 prisoner exchange with Israel > solely for his organization's goal of exporting "Shiite Islam" to the Muslim > world. > > Sayyed says Hizbullah regards Al-Qaeda with similar contempt and has been > preventing the network from gaining a foothold in the country. > > "Al-Qaeda could not maintain a base in Lebanon because Hizbullah is against > Al-Qaeda and has always worked to hinder Syria's accommodation of Al-Qaeda > in Lebanon. One of the reasons Al-Qaeda has not been allowed by Syria to > operate in Lebanon under the Sunnis is because of Hizbullah objection." > > Sayyed believes "Hizbullah is not only a big military power, it is also a > very big intelligence power and is using its intelligence network to keep > Al- Qaeda out of Lebanon." > > Ghorayeb agrees with this assessment, saying Hizbullah has been using its > extensive intelligence network to counter Al-Qaeda growth in the country. > "Nasrallah, drawing from Hizbullah intelligence, warned Al-Qaeda was trying > to infiltrate Lebanon." > > Sayyed says: "Hizbullah has a policy of taking action against Lebanese Sunni > individuals who even claim to have links with Al-Qaeda, either by warning > the individuals or telling the Syrians that if they didn't stop them 'then > we will.'" > > Hizbullah says they would act to prevent an Al-Qaeda attack but, apparently > cautious of being drawn into an intra-Muslim sectarian conflict, the group > says the organization needs to be defeated on an intellectual level. > > Afif claims the party has been approached by mediators from the CIA "who > asked us to collaborate by supplying them with information about Islamic > groups." > > He adds: "We will not be taken into a sectarian war between Muslims, but we > believe it is the responsibility of the Islamic theologians, the Sunnis, as > well as social figures and media to play a role in raising awareness about > the dangers of these ideas." > > Ghorayeb says Hizbullah is playing a delicate balancing game between > Lebanon's Sunni and Shiite communities. > > "There are many instances of this Sunni-Shiite tension in Lebanon now, > Hizbullah is really trying to safeguard the relations between the two > groups. Now, I can tell you, the tension is a lot more palpable than it > was," says Ghorayeb. > > FAIR USE NOTICE: All original content and/or articles and graphics in this > message are copyrighted, unless specifically noted otherwise. All rights to > these copyrighted items are reserved. Articles and graphics have been placed > within for educational and discussion purposes only, in compliance with > "Fair Use" criteria established in Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976. > The principle of "Fair Use" was established as law by Section 107 of The > Copyright Act of 1976. "Fair Use" legally eliminates the need to obtain > permission or pay royalties for the use of previously copyrighted materials > if the purposes of display include "criticism, comment, news reporting, > teaching, scholarship, and research." Section 107 establishes four criteria > for determining whether the use of a work in any particular case qualifies > as a "fair use". A work used does not necessarily have to satisfy all four > criteria to qualify as an instance of "fair use". Rather, "fair use" is > determined by the overall extent to which the cited work does or does not > substantially satisfy the criteria in their totality. If you wish to use > copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you > must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: > http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml > > THIS DOCUMENT MAY CONTAIN COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL. COPYING AND DISSEMINATION > IS PROHIBITED WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT OWNERS. > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Fair play? Video games influencing politics. 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