海角大神

At the entrance to the Sunni quarter of Tarek Jdeide, an armored personnel carrier with Lebanese soldiers sitting on top clattered down the darkened street. Its caterpillar tracks ground over the smoking embers of rubber tires set alight by Sunni protesters.

At one end of the street, huddled in the shadows, stood a small disconsolate crowd of young Sunni men, all of them supporters of Saad Hariri, who was replaced as prime minister this week by Najib Mikati, a billionaire businessman backed by the militant Shiite Hezbollah.

A 鈥�day of rage鈥� to protest Mr. Mikati鈥檚 appointment turned violent with protesters clashing with troops. But it soon fizzled out, leaving these Sunni demonstrators feeling angry and frustrated.

鈥淭he army used force against us and tear gas. We don鈥檛 have any weapons so it鈥檚 easy for them, but when demonstrations are in the Shiite areas, the army does nothing,鈥� says one young man who called himself Ahmad.

Another man interrupted. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to live under a government backed by Hezbollah and Iran. We may have lost the battle, but not the war.鈥�

Mr. Hariri is the leading Sunni political figure in Lebanon and regarded by his followers as the natural choice for the premiership, which under Lebanon鈥檚 sectarian political system is always given to a Sunni.

But the Hezbollah-endorsed Mikati鈥檚 appointment as premier on Jan. 25 was a stark demonstration of the shifting balance of power in Lebanon between the Sunnis 鈥� a backbone of the Lebanese state since independence nearly 70 years ago 鈥� and the Shiites 鈥� historically underrepresented, but today the largest of Lebanon鈥檚 18 sects.

The protests that greeted Mikati鈥檚 appointment were a rare and cathartic release of a frustration that has been building within Lebanon鈥檚 Sunni community in recent years.

The Sunnis lack the organizational dynamism that has been a hallmark of Lebanon鈥檚 Shiites since the community began to mobilize politically and socially in the 1960s and reached its apotheosis with the emergence of Hezbollah two decades later. Hezbollah today is the strongest political and military force in the country and the power behind the new government currently being formed by Mikati.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 feel we are protected by anyone,鈥� says Ali Abdel-Khaled of Muslims Without Borders, a relief charity. 鈥淲e have given up. There鈥檚 a sense of hopelessness here.鈥�

Why Sunnis no longer support Hezbollah

Mr. Abdel-Khaled鈥檚 hometown of Majdal Anjar, located close to the Syrian border in the Bekaa Valley, has long been considered a Sunni bastion of Al Qaeda-style militancy. Some young men from here fought in Iraq against coalition forces after the 2003 invasion.

Lebanese troops have manned checkpoints on all the roads leading into Majdal Anjar since October, when militants ambushed and killed an army officer. For many residents, the heightened security measures around their homes are emblematic of the marginalization they feel and their inability to counter the influence of Hezbollah.

鈥淭his is a reality, and not just in Majdal Anjar. We are dominated by the Shiites and Hezbollah,鈥� says a prominent Sunni cleric in the town who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Hezbollah has always attempted to bridge the intra-Muslim divide, and many Sunnis who once supported the Shiite group for resisting Israel鈥檚 occupation of Lebanon in the 1990s. But now, the calculus has changed.

鈥淭he resistance is no longer fighting Israel, but fighting us internally,鈥� says the cleric. 鈥淧eople here feel very insecure and the future is uncertain and dark.鈥�

Concern that Al Qaeda types will exploit Sunni anger

Rumors persist that some Sunni political leaders linked to Hariri鈥檚 Future Movement are recruiting and arming their followers, although there is little evidence of wholesale arming among Sunni political parties.

Of more concern, however, is the possibility that Al Qaeda-inspired militants may seek to exploit Sunni frustrations and carry out attacks against Shiites, whom they view as apostates.

鈥淭he person who feels targeted will defend himself,鈥� says Sheikh Dai al-Islam Shahhal, the leading Salafist cleric in Lebanon. Salafism is an austere back-to-basics form of Islam that traditionally eschews politics and violence, although Al Qaeda follows a more extreme interpretation of the sect鈥檚 ideology.

In an attempt to tap into Sunni frustrations, an hour-long propaganda film began circulating in Sunni areas of Lebanon some six months ago with the clear intention of inciting anti-Shiite feeling. Titled 鈥淭he Oppressed Sect,鈥� a reference to Sunnis, the film purports to have been produced by the Abdullah al-Azzam Brigades, an Al Qaeda offshoot.

Using archive footage dating back to Lebanon鈥檚 1975-90 civil war, the film lists historic Sunni grievances against Shiites. But some Islamist clerics who have studied the film question its authenticity. Sheikh Omar Bakri, a Salafist cleric who has recently begun to support Hezbollah, says it 鈥渟mells of nationalism and secularism鈥� and suggests that Hariri鈥檚 Future Movement fabricated it.

Another prominent cleric, Sheikh Jamal Khattab, the leading Islamic figure in the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in south Lebanon, also notes that 鈥渢he Islamic terminology is wrong鈥� and believes it is an 鈥渋ntelligence deception.鈥�

But when asked whom he thinks was responsible for the film, Khattab gives a discreet smile and says, 鈥淲e like to blame such things on Israel.鈥�