The Sore Nights of Tripoli…and the General’s Bets

Taha Hussein

Sunday, May 19, 2013, Sheikhs Salem Rafei and Hossam Sabbagh are out-of-the-way. Saad Masri and his fellows, better known today as "front commanders," are on a "diplomatic visit" to Turkey. Right in front of the residence of outgoing Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Tripoli's "Run for Peace" race has just kicked off.
In Fayhaa, there are no indicators a new round of daft battles would erupt in hours. Shortly before noon prayers, a Lebanese army soldier was stabbed in Baqqar locality, in what it seemed a personal dispute.
At 3:30 pm, media outlets broadcast the Syrian flag flapping over Qusayr's municipality building, while social media posted and circulated news about the killing of many Tripoli sons in Qusayr battles.

"The Sunnites of Tripoli intend to enter Jabal Mohsen to retaliate for the massacres in Syria and Qusayr, Takbir," "Ahl al-Sunnah in Lebanon" news network posted. But this did not seem serious. Only little time later, things developed like wildfire. A.S., a relative of a front commander in Bab-el-Tabbaneh, sneaked into Jabal Mohsen and preyed young boy Mohammad Youssef. The 15th round of a causeless battle has been just ignited.

Day 1, retired General Amid Hammoud found a golden chance to make a comeback on the field, now that the front commanders are not in town. Observers of the situation in Tripoli relate that Hammoud confided his concerns to some close friends. He spoke of what he termed as attempts to brush him off the northern arena, pointing the finger at PM Mikati and some Future Movement cadres. Hammoud, who had lost clout over few gunmen in Tabbaneh and its vicinity, was actually seeking to regain power in this round to prove he was still up to scratch on the field.

Hammoud sought to recruit groups of young men to fight in Syria. But he soon realized that those he was luring could make no encroach in a scheme outside Tripoli. Therefore, he dashed to communicate with Lebanese and Syrians he could leverage, and then ventured into commanding the battle.

Day 2, belligerent Bab-el-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen witnessed what was more serious than the usual skirmishes. Clearly enough, the battle was that of expelling the army from the northern city. Since early morning, on-the-ground strikes against the army and military vehicles were accompanied by a rabid media campaign, mainly via social media, accusing the army of betraying Tripoli and collaborating with Syria and Iran. There were even text messages calling army members to desert their lines and join the so-called "Ahl al-Sunnah groups."
Day 3, things headed to the worst, harbingering an unprecedented headway of clashes, due to three factors:

1- The non-stop targeting of the Lebanese army; most recently, an attack targeted a military outpost and photos were published on social media pages, as a retaliation of "Ahl al-Sunnah" for what they considered army's betrayal.

2- The return of the "diplomatic delegation" of front commanders from Turkey and the remarkable deployment of their groups in the streets.

3- The Arab Democratic Party has just sensed some intention to wage an attack on Jabal Mohsen, after plainspoken pledges of a simmering night and a trade between Qusayr and Jabal Mohsen. Confirmed information also spoke of hardline groups' advent from Akkar and Doniyeh into Tabbaneh.

The Party informed the concerned sides that it would carry out preemptive measures. Politburo Head, Refaat Eid, said the party has had its full and that Jabal Mohsen tenants were no more capable of bearing the brunt. Indeed, shortly afterwards, skirmishes exacerbated, with heavy guns, namely B-10 recoilless rifles, 60 mm and 82 mm mortars, and 12.7 mm machine guns, being used.

This much ailing situation stirred up political contacts. Day 4 was hence less tense, but skirmishes and sniping carried on. In Jabal Mohsen, the Arab Democratic Party said yes to a truce, giving a chance to contacts to come off. In Tabbaneh, streets remained uncontrolled and meetings held at the residence of MP Mohammad Kabbara and in mosques failed to agree on one unified decision. The night was then eventful. The number of casualties towered, and truce was derailed.

General Ashraf Rifi, former Director of the Internal Security Forces and Tripoli native, was the linchpin of day 5. The veteran security chief suddenly decided to change the rules of the game. He actually "adopted" fighters and front commanders, thus adding to the battle two perspectives: a political one, as he considered that the battle was imposed on the city to cast a shadow on what he depicted as "a field defeat in Qusayr," and a second perspective as he said that Tripoli battles were self-defense and that front commanders were defending the city from the attack staged by Jabal Mohsen.

The position of Rifi, who is seemingly the only one to benefit from the battle, wide opened the door to a more dangerous situation. But his frankness was not as advantageous. According to Refaat Eid, General Rifi, who excels at wagering on contradictions, sought more than this.

The General sought to invest in the current schism in battered Tripoli, after the resignation of Mikati and the dwindling of Future Movement's role in favor of Islamists. He thought it was time to present himself as a commander of the street in the capital of the North, taking advantage of his security relations which he had tailored throughout his seniority on top of the ISF.

Furthermore, Rifi laid bare his credentials to the interested forces. He actually said, "I am the man you are looking for and I am the one able to take the initiative and revenge from those who refused to extend my term on top of the ISF."
Not less importantly, Rifi's stance made him practically the first candidate to the legislative polls as per the 1960 voting system, overdoing most of the city's politicians who had undertaken to deal with Tabbaneh and its locals as electoral chips instead of life-deserving citizens.

The 15th round of battles has thus far killed at least 30 and injured more than 500. Away from the field, and regardless of any political consideration, whether righteous or wrongful, aren't the tears of children, who would never understand why their fathers got killed, disconcerting you, politicians? Aren't you ashamed of the blackness nowadays cladding the entire city? No shame, no blame!