"It's all going to Syria ..."

 

"... The turmoil in neighboring Syria has been good for business, as Abu Rida and other black-market arms dealers in Lebanon find themselves swamped by Syrians looking to shoot back at the security forces sent to crush the rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad. The arms-sales boom appears to be driven mainly by private demand, although there are persistent rumors of political factions in Lebanon and elsewhere dispatching large quantities of weapons into Syria via traditional smuggling routes... ...  Lebanese political and security sources have told TIME that in the past two weeks, large quantities of weapons have been shipped into the northern city of Tripoli. The origins of the alleged arms shipments are unclear as is their final destination. Some security sources say the arms — mainly AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades — are entering Syria. But according to Rifaat Eid, the leader of the small Alawite community in Tripoli (the same sect which forms the backbone of the Assad regime), the weapons are being distributed to his Sunni opponents in northern Lebanon. "Thousands of street fighting weapons are coming in," he says. "There are countries that are playing the weapons game with us." The dividing line between the Alawite-populated Jabal Mohsen quarter of Tripoli and the adjacent Sunni district of Bab Tebbaneh is one of the most volatile flashpoints in Lebanon's sectarian mosaic. There is palpable anxiety here that if the unrest in Syria spills into Lebanon, Tripoli will be the first place to erupt... ... "