A statement posted on Friday on an Internet website used by Al Qaeda’s branch in Iraq called upon Lebanese Sunnis to confront the Shia group Hezbollah which it accused of wanting to dominate the country. ‘We call on our brothers in Lebanon ... to face up to Hezbollah and the hatred of the rafidha (a pejorative term for Shia Muslims) and prepare for a confrontation,’ appealed the statement from the ‘Mujahedin of Lebanon’.The tone and wording of the statement is similar to that of messages from the Al Qaeda branch in Iraq. ‘Today they want to dominate Lebanon in its totality, allying themselves with the crusaders in Lebanon, to definitively eliminate the Sunni community. The rafidha should know we are ready to combat them,’ said the statement, which also slammed Iran and Syria.
The statement accused Hezbollah of being under the control of Syria, which it charged had opened the door to Iranian influence in the country. A message last week purportedly from the head of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Hamza Al Muhajer, called on Sunnis to stand up to Iran, Syria and Hezbollah.
