In the LATimes, here
"...The leader of one party has a reputation as a playboy with ties to neoconservatives in the Bush administration. The other group is widely viewed as a community of extremists whose puritanical strain of Sunni Islam inspired Osama bin Laden..."They used to be very marginal," Benedetta Berti, a terrorism specialist at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Massachusetts, said of the Salafists. "Now, they have to be taken into account by any political movement. They have become a significant political force. Not by number, but in terms of the political impact they could
have."Hariri has tapped the Salafists' grass-roots social and religious network and strong community ties as a means to build up his base for parliamentary elections in May."It's the same here," said Khaled Daher, a leader of the Islamic Gathering, a Salafist political group that strongly backs Hariri. "We see Hariri and the Future Movement as the best political movement on the ground for now.""There's no doubt that Rafik Hariri was a very distinguished person who had long experience in politics," Daher said. "I think that Saad Hariri cannot match his father's relations, experience and competence..."
4 comments:
saad hariri is hero of all lebanon. he is championing the causes of the palestinians and iraqis and he does it at the expense of his safety. he will be remembered as one of most popular leaders in the middle east.
GPC, publishing ironic posts I can stand but pure sarcasm shouldn't be allowed. Its the lowest form of wit you know...
play boy? this coke sniffing pimp? isn't there a pending law suit against him in France? for proxenitisme?
El Hariri is the heir to the grandest political houses in Lebanon. Furthermore, he represents the clout of the regions most powerful and benevolent regimes: the House of Saud. So the envious and the hypocits: He is here to stay.
Post a Comment