"But some analysts scoff at the suggestion that the increasingly militarized
Salafi groups in Tripoli and elsewhere haven't received funding from powerful
nations. As'ad Abukhalil is a professor of political science at California State
University, Stanislaus and author of the Angry Arab News Service, a
controversial blog on Lebanese and Middle Eastern politics. According to him,
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and other Gulf states have provided direct military and
monetary support to Salafi groups within Lebanon.
"The Saudis are doing what Israel can't do publicly," he says. "They want to push the conflict against Hezbollah as far as possible. They tried going the political route; now they are trying to mobilize against Hezbollah militarily...they have enlisted the help of various radical Sunni and Salafi organizations, in Syria and Lebanon, to push the Sunni-Shia conflict as far as it can go."" (thanks Nidal)
"The Saudis are doing what Israel can't do publicly," he says. "They want to push the conflict against Hezbollah as far as possible. They tried going the political route; now they are trying to mobilize against Hezbollah militarily...they have enlisted the help of various radical Sunni and Salafi organizations, in Syria and Lebanon, to push the Sunni-Shia conflict as far as it can go."" (thanks Nidal)