Jun 5, 2013

At dawn on June 3, Sheikh Maher Hammoud, the imam of the al-Quds Mosque in Sidon, became the target of an assassination attempt as he left his home to lead prayers. At approximately the same time, another sheikh, in northern Lebanon, found himself the target of a similar attack.

The Lebanese security forces believe there is a link between the two incidents, because the targeted sheikhs are both Sunnis who support Shiite Hezbollah. It is thought that the attempts on their lives were a message from al-Qaeda or parties in Lebanon with similar ideologies to all Sunni sheikhs who support Iran and Hezbollah that they will meet with similar fates if they fail to change their views.

Hammoud, well known as a moderate Sunni cleric, had recently been using his sermons to challenge extremist Salafist sheikhs calling for "jihad" against the Shiites. He is also one of the most prominent figures who uses sharia to counter the propositions put forth by Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir, also from Sidon, who has called on his Sunni supporters to confront Hezbollah and Iran in Lebanon.

The assassination attempts have increased concerns about Lebanon's security situation, which has been worsening due to repercussions of the Syrian crisis. Hezbollah's participation in the Syrian war has led to an increase in already existing tensions between the party and Salafist forces operating in Lebanon.

Jabhat al-Nusra and the Free Syrian Army had earlier warned that if Hezbollah fighters did not withdraw from the city of Qusair and surrounding villages by midnight June 2, they would carry out reprisals against Hezbollah targets. The assassination attempts took place hours after the passage of that deadline. The warning led to a state of anxiety in Shiite-majority areas in Lebanon, particularly in Beirut's southern suburbs, long considered a Hezbollah stronghold.