BEIRUT (AP)
-- Car bombings targeting Hezbollah strongholds south of Beirut have
shaken the Shiite militant group, bringing fear to a community that was
largely spared the violence plaguing the rest of Lebanon.
Nowadays,
pistol-wielding Hezbollah operatives man checkpoints guarding the
capital's southern suburbs, searching vehicles for explosives, frisking
residents and occasionally deploying sniffer dogs.
Last
week's massive car bombing that killed 27 people and wounded over 300
in the area was the second such bombing in five weeks and the deadliest
one in nearly three decades.
It was also the
first time the group's urban bastion, long considered a
tightly-controlled state-within-a state, was targeted by bombers seeking
to cause maximum civilian casualties as opposed to targeted
assassinations. In a departure from its standard rhetoric, Hezbollah is
not blaming its traditional foe Israel, but rather Sunni extremists for
the attacks.
Many in Lebanon see the strikes
as retaliation for Hezbollah's highly divisive and controversial armed
support for President Bashar Assad in Syria's civil war. While there has
been no credible claim of responsibility, Syrian rebels have threatened
to hit back at the group for intervening on behalf of the Assad regime
in a conflict that is being fought on increasingly sectarian lines,
pitting Sunni Muslims against Shiites.
The
violence has sent the group's supporters into unchartered territory. For
now, they are closing ranks and voicing unflinching support for the
leadership. But recurrent attacks could eventually create new dynamics
that loosen Hezbollah's hold over its Shiite constituency.
"Hezbollah
is really testing the tolerance level of its support base," said Bilal
Saab, director of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military
Analysis, North America.
Over the past few
months, Beirut's predominantly Shiite southern suburb known as Dahyeh
(Arabic for suburb) has been rocketed several times, while several
Hezbollah cadres were targeted by roadside bombings near the border with
Syria. On July 9, a car bomb wounded more than 50 people in an area not
far from Thursday's massive bombing.
While
Lebanon has seen numerous bombings and assassinations since the end of
its 1975-90 civil war, until now almost all of them had targeted
Christian and Sunni anti-Syrian leaders.
Thursday's
explosion was the single deadliest blast in the stronghold since 1985,
when an explosives truck targeted a top Shiite cleric and spiritual
mentor to Hezbollah, killing 80 people.
The
bombings raise the specter of Iraqi-style sectarian conflict in Lebanon,
a daunting prospect for Hezbollah, which is facing some of its toughest
challenges yet since its founding in 1982 to fight Israeli occupation.
At
sunset on Monday, an AP reporter observed three Hezbollah checkpoints
at the entrances to Dahyeh manned by men carrying pistols and
walkie-talkies. Hezbollah operatives stopped most cars and searched
their trunks, leading to lines that stretched up to 100 meters (yards)
and slowing down business in the normally vibrant area.
On
Tuesday, the Lebanese army replaced Hezbollah at the entrance
checkpoints, although Hezbollah members continued to handle security
inside.
Residents in the area said the
bombings and security measures would not alter their support for
Hezbollah leadership. At a candlelight vigil held Monday evening near
the location of Thursday's bombing, the mood among some 1,000
participants was defiant.
"To the killer we say, Dahyeh is steadfast," read one poster.
"The
security measures are excellent and they make us feel safe," said
Ghaleb Ismail, 59, who suffered bruises on his leg when Thursday's blast
knocked him off a motorcycle. "We love the party and we worry about
it," he added.
Fadi Nasrallah, a 36-year-old chef, said Hezbollah's measures "reassure us and all Lebanese."
"This
is in the people's interest because the whole world is conspiring
against us," said Nasrallah, as he carried his nine-month-old son, Ali
al-Rida, wrapped in a Lebanese red, white and green flag.
In
a speech to supporters on Friday, a day after the bombing, Hezbollah
leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said he was not worried about his Shiite
constituency losing its resolve, adding that they have been through much
worse.
"We recognize your patience and
courage, your understanding and loyalty. This is not emotional talk. We
have experienced this throughout the past decades," Nasrallah said,
citing the monthlong war against Israel in 2006 when much of Dahyeh was
leveled by Israeli airstrikes.
Indeed, it is
difficult to imagine Hezbollah supporters cutting ties with the group
the next time a bomb goes off in their neighborhood. The Iranian-backed
political movement, whose name means "Party of God," has spent decades
cultivating Shiite support and has deep political and social roots in
Lebanon.
The group runs a sophisticated
network of schools, clinics and social services in the Shiite community
and also assists in relief efforts.
On
Tuesday, its reconstruction arm, Jihad al-Bina, busily surveyed damage
from the bombing and began to repair buildings from scaffolding.
Hezbollah's
popularity, however, which ran high in the Arab world during the 2006
war, has sharply declined in recent years, largely because of its
position regarding Syria's civil war. Fighters from the group helped
propel Assad's forces to victory in the strategic town of Qusair near
the border with Lebanon in June. Now, its staunch support for Assad
overshadows its former image among Arabs as a heroic resistance movement
that stood up to Israel.
In Lebanon, a deeply
polarized nation, the group is increasingly accused of putting the
interests of longtime patrons Iran and Syria over those of its home
country.
Ali Hamadeh, a columnist for
Lebanon's leading An-Nahar newspaper, on Tuesday urged Lebanon to hold
the group accountable for exposing the country to terrorist threats
because of its open involvement in Syria.
Analysts
say recurrent attacks to Hezbollah strongholds could eventually
challenge its authority among Shiites as increased fear and anxiety sets
in, although Lebanon's sectarian makeup and poor state services leave
Shiites with few other leadership options.
"Given
the absence of a credible and reliable alternative, it will be very
difficult for Shiites to break with Hezbollah," said Saab, the analyst.
"A rallying around the flag effect should not be dismissed."
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Follow Bassem Mroue on http://twitter/bmroue and Zeina Karam on http://twitter/zkaram .
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