BEIRUT – Saudi Arabia's problems with Syria may be putting the U.S. on a collision course in northern Lebanon that could put it in the untenable position of supporting Sunni Salafists that are linked to al-Qaida, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.
According to highly placed Lebanese sources, Saudi Arabia's Prince Bandar bin Sultan, chief of the Saudi National Security Council, is helping to finance the U.S.-backed Future Movement of Saad Hariri, whose militias are instigating fighting against the Shiite Alawite minority in northern Lebanon.
The increased fighting centers around the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, which is occupied predominantly by Sunnis and Christian and Alawite minorities.
But Salafists, who also are Sunnis, are allied with the Future Movement, according to these sources. In addition, the Shiite Hezbollahhas aligned itself with the Alawite minority.
Among the Sunnis involved is the Fatah al Islam group, said to be associated with al-Qaida. Last year, the Fatah al Islam engaged in a deadly fight for months with the Lebanese Armed Forces. From one perspective, the Fatah al Islam is the combined outgrowth of a Sunni Islamist revival sweeping Lebanon and the region.
The Future Movement, led by Hariri, son of the late former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri who was assassinated in February 2005, is part of the Lebanese government majority led by Sunni Prime MinisterFuad Siniora.
The sources have told WND that alleged Sunni, Saudi-instigated fighting against the Shiites in fact is pushing the U.S. into a confrontation with the Syrians.
Such a development would thrust the U.S. into a position that could adversely affect U.S. Middle East policy, considering the increasing presence of the Russian military at the nearby Syrian port of Tartus.
The Saudi backing of the Sunni Future Movement also could push the U.S. into a confrontation with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
The Alawite minority in northern Lebanon is part of the same tribe to which Syrian President Bashar Assad belongs.
In response to the fighting in northern Lebanon, Syria has positioned some 10,000 troops on the Syrian-Lebanese border poised to come to the assistance of the Alawite minority.
The concern is that Syria may try to reoccupy northern Lebanon.
