BEYOND THE DROPZONE

LEBANON UPDATE: Source purportedly flees from Hezbollah

Posted by W. Thomas Smith Jr. on 12 May 2008 at 12:07 pm UTC

My piece in this morning’s Human Events, discusses a phone call I had with Hezbollah’s former chief of security, Al Sayyed Mohammad Ali El Husseini, a high-ranking Shiia cleric who some say was to replace the terrorist group’s secretary general Hassan Nasrallah. The two however split over ideological differences, and I’ve since interviewed Husseini on four separate occasions (twice face-to-face when I was in Lebanon last year, including time spent with him when others of us were running a photo reconnaisance of Hezbollah’s stronghold in Dahiyeh).

On Friday evening, I interviewed Husseini (Read it here) from his home in Dahiyeh, the southern suburbs of Beirut. And I specifically asked him if he felt his life was in danger. After all, Hezbollah had tried assassinate him once before, and that was when I was in Lebanon in September and October.

Husseini said he did not feel as if he was in danger at that time, again Friday. But several hours ago (Sunday evening), he informed another of my sources that he and his family were packing up and fleeing to south Lebanon, close to where UNIFIL forces are positioned.

Apparently, Hezbollah gunmen have been asking questions about him in Dahiyeh.

Not sure where Husseini is right now. But we hope to make contact with him at some point today.

— Visit W. Thomas Smith Jr. at uswriter.com.

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