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26.05.05
Covert "love affair" the full story, part II (preceding part)
Envoys of the Ummah or
Russian communication with Hezbollah is not reserved for diplomats only. Official Islamic
leaders of Russia also take part in these liaisons. The majority of Muslims in Russia belong to
the Sunni branch of Islam. After the USSR collapsed, they were marked by extremist Sunni
preachers from Arab counties as a preferable objective for the expansion of their influence.
Following the war in Chechnya, their activity was forbidden, and most of the foreign charity
organizations and institutes for the propagation of Islam were declared to be supporters of
terrorism. But such a harsh attitude is not applied to Shia fundamentalist organizations, such as
Hezbollah. They do not constitute a threat to the Russian regime, they are not forbidden, and
there are no laws against contacting their representatives abroad. The first official delegation of
high ranking Russian Muslim leaders came to Beirut to meet with the representatives of
Hezbollah in January, 2002. Mufti Nafigulla Ashirov, the leader of the Muslims living in
Russia's Asian regions, led the delegation. To describe Nafigulla`s status and level of influence
in Russia, it is enough to note that during the elections of 1999 his main assistant, Abed Al-
Vahked Niyazov, led the party list of the Unity block in voting districts located in the Urals
regions, accumulating more than 20 million Muslim votes to support Putin.
During the visit to Lebanon, Nafigulla, together with representatives of Hezbollah, took part in
the summit of Islamic religious leaders. In the farewell speeches Russian Muslims- called for
strengthening Moscow's relations with Sheikh Nasrallah`s organization.
Since then, the interactions between the Russian Muslim leadership and the leaders of Hezbollah
have become regular.
The Institute of Oriental Studies` expert, Vladimir Akhmadov, has written a lengthy article
devoted to the importance of contacts with Hezbollah for the promotion of the Russian interests
in the Middle East. He claims that relations with the Shia organization strengthen Russia's
position in the region, particularly regarding the issue of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
If this is really so, Putin`s ambitions to rehabilitate Russian influence in the area expressed
through tightening of relations with Syria, Iran and Turkey will lead to the strengthening of
relations with Hezbollah. The current occurrences in Lebanon encourage this tendency.
Legitimizing Terrorism
Before the Israeli army's departure from Lebanon in Spring, 2000, Russia accepted, to a certain
extent, the legitimacy of Hezbollah`s terrorist actions against Israel. The most blunt expression
this attitude came during Evgeny Primakov`s visit as a Minister of Foreign Affairs to the
countries of the region in April, 1996. Before visiting Israel, he said that "all the tension in
Southern Lebanon may not be blamed on Hezbollah, while Israel is still occupying part of this
country". Simultaneously with this statement, Moscow offered to mediate the negotiations
between Israel, Syria and Iran regarding the issue of Hezbollah. Primakov also claimed that
Israel is not striving sufficiently to find - political solution for the problem of South Lebanon.
One can ascertain the Russian attitude towards Hezbollah after the Israeli withdrawal from
Lebanon by looking at the way in which the Russian state news agency, RIAN, covered
accidents on the Lebanese border since May, 2000. Most of the reports are based on information
from the Hezbollah-owned Al-Manar channel. RIAN`s reporters are fond of reminding their
audience that all the terrorist actions of Hezbollah on the border are efforts to "regain the Shaaba
Farms Lebanese territory, occupied by the Israeli forces".
"The Hezbollah must receive proper representation in Lebanese governmental institutions,"
announced the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov one month after Rafik Hariri`s
assassination. The official speaker of the Russian Foreign Ministry added that this Shia
organization plays an important role in the country's political, economic and social life. He
pointed out that Hezbollah is represented in the Parliament and acts within the limits of the
Lebanese Constitution.
Fadlallah Calls for Russian Involvement
In the beginning of Hezbollah`s rise, its leaders expressed hostility towards Moscow. At that
time, such a position was backed by Hezbollah`s external policy, well explained by one of its
leaders, Hussein Al-Musaui (who established AMAL al-Islami, which later merged with
Hezbollah). "We are fighting against East and West as one against the USSR and against the
USA" he said in his interview to the Arabic paper "Al-Kifah Al-Arabi" in January, 1984. His
words closely corresponded to the Iranian policy at that time. But since the end of the eighties
and particularly after the USSR`s collapse, ayatollahs' attitudes towards Moscow have changed.
Russia and Iran have abandoned mutual suspicions and tension, and moved towards strategic
cooperation. Iranian influence and the new world order affected Hezbollah, driving its official
leaders to alter their policy towards Russia. Not, however, the spiritual leaders they
occasionally criticized Moscow's policies as harshly as their Iranian colleagues did. For example,
in February, 1995, Sheikh Fadlallah condemned the Russian authority for unleashing war in
Chechnya. Moscow's struggle to return to its traditional policy in the Middle East and to become
again an opponent of American hegemony in the region was realized noted by Sheikh Nasrallah
and his environs during the second half of the nineties. These Russian intentions serve
Hezbollah`s interest, and its leadership plans to use Moscow to strengthen their organization's
regional and international position. This is why representatives of Hezbollah, since the second
half of the nineties, have called for tightening relations with Russia and assisting in the growth of
its involvement in the area. Russian sources reported that in May, 1998, the General Secretary of
the organization, Sheikh Nasrallah, talked about cooperation between Moscow and Hezbollah on
regional issues during his meeting with Victor Posovaluk. A year and a half before that, Sheikh
Fadlallah had even agreed to give an interview to the Russian conservative newspaper, "Zavtra".
The spiritual leader of Shia terrorists suddenly proved to be a supporter of increasing interaction
with Moscow. Fadlallah stated that "Russia has to give priority to the relations with Eastern
countries, especially Arab and Muslim ones. This is the area where Russia can play an important
role and fully exercise its potential, including the economical sphere, to be the counterbalancing
power to the West". With the expansion of Russian involvement in the Middle East, the growing
role of Hezbollah in Lebanese internal policy and the exacerbation of the contradictions on the
issue of its military wing, the interest of Hezbollah`s leadership in promoting connections with
Russia undoubtedly will grow.
Coming soon - the next part of the series:
Hezbollah`s Russian branch (names, operations, connections)
Official Moscow's relation to Hezbollah`s activities on the Russian soil
Back to Main | Part I | Part III | Part IV
Related items:
War in Lebanon Divided Between Russia and Germany (08.08.06)
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