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New extremism warning as Lebanon talks begin

17/05/2008

The political crisis in Lebanon could lead to a new wave of violent extremism, it has been argued.

A Middle East academic says the Lebanese government's decision to stand down from Hizbullah fighters during violence earlier this month could backfire.

The Shia Muslim organisation briefly controlled large parts of Beirut when fighting broke out after its leader Hassan Nasrallah said the government had declared war.

Fouad Siniora's western-backed government had claimed Hizbullah's telecoms network was illegal, which led to Hizbullah fighters attacking media and political offices in the capital.

The internecine fighting, which killed scores of people, was the worst seen in the country since the 1975-1990 civil war.

Nadim Shehadi, an associate fellow of Chatham House's Middle East programme, said Hizbullah's "halo" may have slipped through its violent actions.

"They really showed a very ugly face, as opposed to a very holy face before," he told inthenews.co.uk.

"The danger is Hizbullah has crossed this line; the government played Gandhi – the government scored a lot of points by playing Gandhi.

"Nobody in the country wants a civil war, even a lot of Hizbullah supporters would agree with that.

"But then the government has shown it cannot protect the people from Hizbullah. Some extremist groups could take advantage of this and could recruit people to fight militarily.

"This is very dangerous; what Hizbullah has triggered is a very dangerous process."

The claim comes as representatives of the country's government and Hizbullah meet in Doha, Qatar, to hold Arab League-mediated talks.

Discussions began on Friday, but an end to the deadlock and a resolution of Lebanon's political crisis appear unlikely.

Lebanon has been without a president since Emile Lahoud stepped down last November.

Army chief Michel Sleiman has been agreed as a compromise candidate in theory, but 18 parliamentary sessions to formally select him have been cancelled in rows over the makeup of his cabinet.

UK foreign secretary David Miliband has already called for military, economic and political support for Mr Siniora's government

A spokesperson at the Foreign Office explained the UK had "serious concerns" about Iran's role in the region, including its "continued and open support" of Hizbullah.