Hezbollah's media relations department stated today that the group would release a MOU with salafist groups this coming Monday at the Safir hotel in Beirut. Note that the most of the various salafist entities in Lebanon are not tied to jihadist terrorism (see here).
This move by Hezbollah will likely be cause for concern within Saad Hariri's Future Movement in that it can be seen as an attempt by Hezbollah to garner support from a constituency whose support has been previously sought and enjoyed by Hariri. Overall, this move could be motivated by a desire for Hezbollah to increase its influence in the predominantly Sunni north Lebanon for the upcoming 2009 parliamentary elections.
(Updated) According to Al-Akhbar's coverage of these developments, leadership of the salafist Waqf al-Turath al-Islami (Endowment for Islamic Heritage) has been holding meetings with Hezbollah representatives the past few months. Al-Akhbar cites sources allegedly close to the organization as stating that many within the salafist community are expected to attend Monday's announcement. When compared to salafist-jihadist groups, Waqf's political line can be considered relatively moderate. For example, I came across a fatwa issued by the organization in November of last year – allegedly distributed to mosques in the Tripoli area – that discouraged individuals from embarking for jihad in Iraq.
The memorandum comes shortly after a bus bombing killed 9 members of the Lebanese Army in the northern city of Tripoli, in which many have alleged the involvement of a salafist-jihadist group (i.e. Fatah al-Islam). However, this move should be seen within the broader context of ongoing sectarian clashes between Sunnis and Alawites in Tripoli. The Alawites of the Bal Mohsen sector of the city have be painted as acting on behalf of the Hezbollah-led opposition. Thus, this move can be seen as an important political move to improve/build the group's credibility in north Lebanon. In some regards, its reminiscent of the 2006 MOU between Hezbollah and the largely Christian Free Patriotic Movement, which proved to be vital to the strength of Lebanon's parliamentary opposition in recent political developments.
Will this new inter-sectarian ‘understanding’ further solidify Hezbollah's influence in Lebanon, or will it only further subject it to the norms of Lebanese national politics?
