LILIT HARUTYUNYAN
the rationale for an alliance with Western powers and Saudi Arabia in order to oppose the Shia movement , which was supported by Iran and Syria . This closing of ranks meant that Saad Hariri achieved virtually unchallenged leadership of the Sunni community .
The nearly absolute hegemony of Saad Hariri in the Sunni community led to various alliances that are critical to Lebanese political configurations . In defense of the neoliberal economic program , the billionaire mobilized Sunni followers from the most deprived areas of Lebanon , such as Akkar in the north . The “ Future Movement ” relied heavily on patronage and the everexpanding health and social service provisions of the Hariri Foundation 51 . Saudi Arabia allegedly spent “ hundreds of millions ” of dollars to ensure the electoral success of the “ Future Movement ” and its allies in the 2009 parliamentary elections 52 . The mobilization of Sunni Muslims was primarily political but inevitably included religious sheikhs on behalf of the “ Future Movement ”. 53 The Hariri camp courted Islamists , especially in Tripoli and the Akkar region . It entered into an alliance with the Lebanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood , pressed for amnesty for militants arrested over Islamist violence in Denniyeh in 2000 and recruited former Salafist Khalid Dahir as a parliamentary deputy . 54 At one point , the Hariri movement started arming its supporters via a private security company . 55 The strategy of armed confrontation with Hezbollah failed when the Shia militia and its allies took control of much of the capital in May 2008 , surrounding Hariri ’ s residence . The “ Future Movement ” functionary in charge of arming Sunni youths was thereafter demoted . 56
The clashes led to the Doha Agreement of May 21 , 2008 , which brought together both 14 March and 8 March leaders . The rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Syria led to a visit from Hariri to Damascus .
51
Hadi Makarem , Actually Existing Neoliberalism : The reconstruction of Downtown Beirut in post-civil war Lebanon , London School of economics and political science , London , September , 2014 , 216-219 . http :// etheses . lse . ac . uk / 3078 / 1 / Makarem _ Actually _ Existing _ Neoliberalism . pdf ( Accessed May 30 , 2020 ).
52
Robet F . Worth , “ Foreign Money seeks to buy Lebanese votes ”, New York Times , April 22 , 2009 .. https :// www . nytimes . com / 2009 / 04 / 23 / world / middleeast / 23lebanon . html ( Accessed May 30 , 2020 ).
53
International Crisis Group , Lebanon ’ s Politics : The Sunni Community and Hariri ’ s Future Current , May 26 , 2010 , 22 . https :// www . crisisgroup . org / middle-east-northafrica / eastern-mediterranean / lebanon / lebanon-s-politics-sunni-community-and-hariri-sfuture-current ( Accessed May 30 , 2020 ).
54
See Lebanon : After the Cedar Revolution , in Are Knudsen and Michael Kerr eds ., ( London , 2012 ), 140 .
55
Borzou Daragahi , Read Rafei , “ Private force no match for Hezbollah ”, Los Angeles Times , May 12 , 2008 http :// articles . latimes . com / 2008 / may / 12 / world / fg . security12 ( Accessed April 2 , 2020 )
56
Lebanon : After the Cedar Revolution , 140 . 19