Tuesday, August 01, 2006

The future trends in Lebanese politics are not going to be good. Secular and leftist groups and parties will be increasingly marginalized. Tomorrow, a new Islamic fundamentalist front will be founded in Lebanon. The Islamic Action Front will be announced by its founder, Islamic fundamentalist thinker, Fathi Yakan, who broke with Al-Jama`ah Al-Islamiyyah in the wake of Hariri's assassination. The Sunni front will comprise many radical Sunni fundamentalist groups and will declare its support for Hizbullah. I think that Sunni and Shi`ite politics in Lebanon will become more fundamentalist out of this, not less. This new front will weaken the stance of Al-Jama`ah Al-Islamiyyah which has clearly distanced itself from Hariri Inc since the Isareli war started. It is likely that Hariri Inc may try to cultivate and finance some of the kooky Bin Ladenite groups in order to prop up their "Islamist credentials." They have done that in the past.