The Mujahideen in Lebanon Respond to the Assassination of Pierre Gemayel

On November 21, 2006, various Islamist websites posted two announcements by the mujahideen in Lebanon pertaining to the assassination of Pierre Gemayel, a Lebanese cabinet minister and a strong opponent of Syrian influence in Lebanon. In the first message, the group depicts the assassination as a step in the greater plan of Hizbullah and the 'Alawi regime [i.e. Syria] to topple the Lebanese government.

In the second announcement, titled "There Will Be No [Political] Entity for the Shi'ites on Lebanese Soil," the group warns the Sunnis in Lebanon: "Hassan Nasrallah has exposed his claws and teeth, collected his pincers together, and spouted his venoms. This is nothing else but the zero hour. He will not set out to meet you [armed] with flowers, but rather with insult and verbal abuse of the blessed Mothers of the Believers [i.e. the Prophet's wives] and the Prophet's Companions. This is the zero hour. Hizbullah's plans have become evident in the domestic and Arab arenas…"

The message concludes with a warning to the Shi'ites in Lebanon: "You wanted this battle and we welcome it… Prepare your shrouds and dig your graves. The whirlwind of the mujahideen in Lebanon is coming…We are coming to you, O Beirut, to eliminate the pit of unbelief called Al-Dhahiya [the Shi'ite neighborhood in southern Beirut]."