Subhi al-Tufayli
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Sheikh Subhi al-Tufayli (صبحي الطفيلي, Ƨʋbhí alƟ̑ʋfɑỉlí} (born 1948) was secretary-general of Hezbollah from 1989 until 1991. Tufayli was an Islamist and a close follower of the late Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
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[edit] Early life and education
Al-Tufayli spent nine years studying theology in the city of al-Najaf, Iraq, where he met and was influenced by other Islamist clerics and by the teachings of the Ayatollah Khomeini. Returning to Lebanon, he joined with Abbas al-Musawi to help found the Hezbollah movement/militia in the Beqaa Valley in 1982. Beqaa is one of Hezbollah's three main regions of support in Lebanon.[1]
[edit] In Hezbollah
Al-Tufayli was spokesman for Hezbollah between 1985 and 1989, and then first Secretary-General of Hezbollah from 1989 until 1991.
On July 28, 1989 elite Israeli military units abducted Sheikh Abdel Karim Obeid, a senior Hezbollah cleric and regional military commander of the Islamic Resistance, who they hoped to use to negotiate an exchange for several IDF soldiers and Western civilian hostages held by Hezbollah.[2] Under Tufaili's militant leadership however, Hezbollah "remained adamant" in its refusal to release either "any IDF soldiers [or] any Western hostages" it held.[3]
[edit] Post-Hezbollah
In 92 Tufaili was replaced by Shiekh Abbas al-Musawi as head of Hezbollah. Hezbollah's hostage-taking campaign had wound down since the "Kuwait 17" bombers of the 1983 Kuwait bombings who were connected to leading Hezbollah members were now free, and Taif Agreement had essentially ended the Civil War in Lebanon. Al-Musawi was both head of the military wing and former head of the movement's "internal security apparatus in Beirut," and was thus thought well equipped to lead Hezbollah in its new primary mission of fighting Israel and ending Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon.[4] Tufaili also opposed Hezbollah's participation in Lebanese national elections.[5][6] and its "moderation" toward the Lebanese state.[7]
Tufaili was believed by some to have lead the splinter group Ansar Allah, which may have been responsible for attacks in Lebanon, Panama, and Argentina. He has been backed by Syria as leverage against the more independent Hezbollah leader Nasrallah.[8]
In July 1997 he organized protest against government which has been called "hunger revolution".[9] Tufeili said it is "completely unacceptable that a human being could be humiliated because of poverty or because they were in need."[10]
His breakaway group is known as the "Revolution of the Hungry" (Thawrat al-Jiya), although his support base is largely limited to the villages of Brital and Tarayya.[11]
He is wanted by the Lebanese government for leading a revolution against the country, but has not been arrested.[12]
In January 1998 he attempted with his militia to occupy a Hezbollah religious school and touched off a violent confrontation with the Lebanese army. Lebanese authorities issued a warrant for Tufaili's arrest, while Lebanese army units conducted a massive sweep of the Beqaa. According to Lebanon's army statement in 1998[6]:
"Following the decision of the military prosecutor to order the arrest of Sheikh Sobhi Tufaili and his supporters on charges of forming armed groups, endangering national security and killing soldiers and civilians, the army took control of Sheikh Tufaili's house."
In February 1998 Lebanese troops surrounded a village looking for a Tufaili after two days of clashes that left eight people dead.[13] Tufaili and around 100 of his fighters were allowed to escape to his hometown of Britel when the head of Syrian military intelligence in Baalbeck, Col. Ali Safi, stepped in and forced advancing Lebanese army units to halt.[7]
In April 1999, Tufaili's forces overran a Hezbollah arms depot in the village of Nabichit, near Baalbeck, seizing large numbers of machine-guns, rocket-launchers and other military equipment.[7][14]
[edit] Views
Tufaili has been a stalwart in his opposition to the existence of the state of Israel, telling one funeral audience in 1992 that `we know that we will not triumph in one or even several years but have prepared for a battle of centuries,` to eliminate Israel.[15]
More recently, Tufaili has stated that the Hassan Nasrallah is implementing the agenda of Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ali Khamenei[16], that the Islamic Republic's doctrine of "Rule of the Jurisprudent" (Velayat-e faqih) is un-Islamic and its government tyranical.[17]
[edit] See also
[edit] References and notes
- ^ Ranstorp, Magnus, Hizb'allah in Lebanon : The Politics of the Western Hostage Crisis, New York, St. Martins Press, (1997), p.46
- ^ Ranstorp, Hizb'allah, (1997), p.103
- ^ Ranstorp, Magnus, Hizb'allah in Lebanon, 1997, p.104
- ^ Ranstorp, Magnus, Hizb'allah in Lebanon, 1997, p.105
- ^ The break with HEzbollah and Hassan Nasrallah
- ^ a b Lebanese army hunts down radical cleric
- ^ a b c Hezbollah: Between Tehran and Damascus
- ^ National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism circa 2002
- ^ News from Beirut July 7 1997
- ^ News from Beirut July 7 1997
- ^ Hizballah Rising: The Political Battle for the Loyalty of the Shi'a of Lebanon MERIA March 2005
- ^ Former Hezbollah chief lashes at the group's current leadership - Middle East
- ^ 8 Killed as Lebanon Battles Dissident Sheik
- ^ Al-Watan al-Arabi, 3 December 1999.
- ^ Sheikh al-Tufayli in speech at the 1992 funeral of Hizb'allah Secretary-General al-Musawi who was assassinated by Israelis. [source: Voice of the Oppressed, 0630 gmt 19 Feb 92-SWB ME/1309, 20 February 1992. Quoted in (Ranstorp, Magnus, Hizb'allah in Lebanon : The Politics of the Western Hostage Crisis, New York, St. Martins Press, 1997, p.57
- ^ Former Hizbullah Secretary-General Subhi Al-Tufeili: Nasrallah Implements Khamenei's Policy in Lebanon 28 January 2007
- ^ Former Hizbullah Secretary-General Subhi Al-Tufeili: 'The Worst Dictatorships Do Not Do What Is Being Done Today in Tehran'; The Rule of the Jurisprudent Is a 'Heretical Doctrine'. (from an interview with former Hizbullah secretary-general Subhi Al-Tufeili, which aired on Murr TV on January 30, 2012)
[edit] External links
- Hezbollah: Between Tehran and Damascus by Gary C. Gambill and Ziad K. Abdelnour
- Lebanese army hunts down radical cleric
- Tufaili Returns to Lebanese Political Scene, December 1999
| Preceded by Ragheb Harb |
Secretary-General of Hezbollah 1989-1991 |
Succeeded by Abbas al-Musawi |
