Jordanian leader calls for jihad against Hezbollah

Muhammed Shalabi urges fighters to attack Hezbollah groups; predicts final showdown between Sunni Islamists and Shi'ite group.

By ARIEL BEN SOLOMON
Hezbollah supporters Beirut 370 (photo credit: Reuters)
Hezbollah supporters Beirut 370
(photo credit: Reuters)
Muhammad Shalabi, a jihadist leader in Jordan, has called for a jihad against the Shi’ite Hezbollah, predicting a decisive confrontation between Sunni Islamists and the Lebanese “Party of God” in the coming days, according to a report on Monday in the Arab daily Al-Hayat.
He said that the al-Qaida linked al-Nusra Front is heading to all of the areas where Hezbollah fighters are present.
“It is a duty to carry out jihad against all of the aggressors,” said Shalabi. “We call openly to fight this party,” he said, urging the Sunnis in Lebanon and Syria to target Hezbollah’s positions and leaders.
This is the first time that Shalabi has explicitly called for attacking Hezbollah, according to the report.
Shalabi also mentioned that Shi’ite fighters from Bahrain, Pakistan, and other Gulf countries are coming to fight in Syria alongside Hezbollah.
There are more than 500 Jordanian fighters supporting the al-Nusra Front, said Shalabi.
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They enter Syria of their own initiative with the assistance of smugglers.
Concerning the connection between Jordan’s Salafists and the al-Nusra Front, he said that there is no organizational unity between the groups, but that they have the same ideology.
Jordan has arrested dozens of Salafis over the past few months before they were able to reach Syria, according to the report.