Wahhab Says 'Tawhid Brigades' to Start Operating Soon
Arab Tawhid Party chief Wiam Wahhab announced Sunday that an apparently paramilitary group affiliated with his party will “soon” start operating in “all Lebanese regions.”
The group, dubbed Tawhid Brigades, will “stand by the Lebanese army and Lebanese security forces in repelling any threat that Lebanon might face,” Wahhab said.
“It will not be confined to a certain region or certain community and it will allow everyone to join it,” the ex-minister added.
Wahhab, who is close to Damascus and Hizbullah, did not say whether the new group will be part of the controversial Hizbullah-linked Resistance Brigades.
Last month, Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq blasted the Resistance Brigades as “occupation brigades.”
The decision to create the Resistance Brigades was taken in 1997 by Hizbullah's leadership. The group comprised Lebanese young men who wanted to fight the Israeli occupation of south Lebanon without having to officially join Hizbullah.
The group was not disbanded after Israel's withdrawal from the South in the year 2000 and Hizbullah's rivals have in recent years accused the Brigades of recruiting “thugs” and individuals who have criminal records and of stirring tensions in several regions.
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