In less than one hour Hizballah will sign at As-Safir Hotel in Beirut an agreement with the Salafi movements. I don't reject the idea, but I wonder if its going to work.
In other news, Egypt will deliver energy and gas to Lebanon.
The discussions between Lebanese and Egyptian officials resulted in the signature of an agreement under the terms of which Egypt will provide Lebanon with gas and electric energy.
"The meeting with President Mubarak was excellent," PM Siniora told reporters in a joint press conference with his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Nazif.
Hizballah's arms are still high on the agenda.They won't give them up, not in the immediate future anyway [if ever], so the talks will be to find justifications, pretexts and that's pretty much it. People here are so inventive. I am really looking forward to see what they come up next.
update: I was right to believe that Hizballah and the Salafi factions that signed the protocol found a common enemy: the American agenda. Maybe other enemies as well, but the point is that when they run out of common ideals, the Sunni extremists consider Shias as infidels. As far as I am aware of, the Shias don't have the concept of turning the other cheek when attacked. Hence the romance will not last. Taking in consideration the year we are in, and the hope that human nature advances [technology advance, we don't], in theory this is a good agreement. Practice is different though.
Today, the highest Salafi authority, in the country, Sheikh Dai al-Islam al-Shahhal, labeled the agreement as:
“media crackling in favor of Hizbullah and the Shiite community.”[Naharnet]
“The Salafi movement totally rejects this document and who signed it has no right to claim belonging to the Salafi movement or representing it.”
“This document is harmful to the Sunni community and would end up in vain, God willing,” he added. “Those who signed have no influence, and whoever wants to defuse tension should talk to forces that do exist.”
Back to square zero already? Perhaps.
For more, read Hanin Ghaddar's commentary for NOW Lebanon.
The memorandum of understanding signed on Monday between Hezbollah and Salafists groups, represented mainly by Hassan al-Chahhal's Belief and Justice Movement, was yet another attempt to weaken the Future Movement's popularity on the Sunni street and presents the Salafists as being more open to dialogue and cooperation. It was also further revealed that Hezbollah still assumes the mantle of guardian of the nation's security with total disregard for the authority and role of the state, while what Salafists there are in Lebanon are fragmented with no common agenda.
