Al Qaeda exploits Lebanon war despite Shi'ite rift

BERLIN, July 27: Al Qaeda has signalled its intent to use the war in Lebanon as a recruitment tool, despite the ideological gulf between its Sunni Muslim leaders and the Shi'ite Hizbollah militants fighting Israel.

Arab security analysts said a video from al Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahri today, in which he urged Muslims to ''fight and become martyrs'' in response to the conflict in Lebanon, would strike a chord with some on the Arab street.

They said it would tap into a growing feeling among militant Islamists that the fight against Israel must take precedence over sectarian divisions between Sunni and Shia Muslims.

For al Qaeda, the 16-day-old Lebanon conflict is ''a great opportunity and a good instrument for recruitment,'' said Mustafa Alani of the Gulf Research Center in Dubai.

Mohamed al-Sayed Said of the Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo said al Qaeda was looking to mobilise an ''intense feeling of injustice and humiliation'' among many Arabs, even though Lebanon and the Arab-Israeli conflict had not traditionally been central to its cause.

''It has always argued that changing the world and changing Arab regimes has the priority over fighting Israel,'' he said.

''I think they'll probably come to see this (crisis) as an opportunity to gain a little bit more legitimacy.'' BOMBS RAINING Zawahri, in the tape, did not specify how al Qaeda would respond to the spectacle of ''bombs raining on our people'' from Israel, which has attacked Lebanon from the air and on the ground in response to Hizbollah's capture of two of its soldiers and rocket attacks on the Jewish state.

Some Western security officials have warned since the crisis began on July 12 that it could increase the danger of reprisal attacks outside the West Asia. While there is no evidence of concrete attack plans, they say, such a threat could come either from Hizbollah or from militants normally hostile to the Shi'ite group but seeking to exploit the situation for their own ends.

Said said the Lebanon crisis had prompted a debate among some Sunni militants about whether it was legitimate to show solidarity with Hizbollah.

''It's been widely decided by jihadists in general, in the Internet and other forums, that even though Hizbollah has a special agenda, nonetheless we can make a common front with Hizbollah because the priority should be given to fighting Israel,'' he said.

''Even amongst this (Sunni militant) fringe that would characterise Shi'ites as kafireen -- atheists, or godless -- the general position is we still have to make a common front with them because they are fighting the worst enemy.'' From al Qaeda's point of view, today's tape by Osama bin Laden's deputy was an opportunity to reclaim some of the media spotlight from Hizbollah, which Zawahri did not mention by name.

The tactic of seizing on a current world crisis for propaganda purposes is characteristic of al Qaeda, whose other messages this year have addressed issues ranging from the Darfur crisis to the row over Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad.

By placing Israel in its sights, the latest appeal also addressed an issue which goes to the heart of al Qaeda's credibility -- its failure to bring off an attack against the Jewish state, apart from a 2002 bombing that killed 15 people in a Kenyan hotel frequented by Israeli tourists.

Alani said al Qaeda was interested in using Lebanon as a base to attack Israel, and may step up its efforts to establish cells there.

But he saw clear limits to the extent of any alliance with Hizbollah.

''There might be some sort of cooperation on the ground, technical cooperation with Hizbollah, but I don't see a joint operation or joint command or something like that,'' he said.

''Al Qaeda will lose a good part of its supporters within the Arab Sunnis if they're going to be seen as part of Hizbollah's operation in Lebanon.''

REUTERS