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Sheikh Subhi al-Tufayli (صبحي الطفيلي, Ƨʋbhí alƟ̑ʋfɑỉlí} (born 1948) is a former secretary-general of Hezbollah. Tufayli was an Islamist ideologue and close follower of Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
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 1985. Beqaa is one of Hezbollah's three main regions of support in Lebanon.[1]
He was the spokesman for Hezbollah between 1985 and 1989, and then first Secretary-General of Hezbollah from 1989 until 1991. In 1992 he was replaced by Sheikh Abbas al-Musawi when Hezbollah decided to participate in national elections Tufaili opposed. He either quit or was expelled from Hezbollah in 1992.[2][3] Tufaili is now rumored to lead the splinter group Ansar Allah, which is held responsible for attacks in Lebanon, Panama, and Argentina. He has been backed by Syria as a means of challenging Hezbollah leader Nasrallah, who has remained inflexible to Syrian demands.[4]
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Tufaili has been a stalwart in his opposition to the existence of the state of Israel, telling one funeral audience 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.[5]
On July 28, 1989 elite Israeli military units abducted Sheikh Abdal-Karim Obeid, a senior Hizballah 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.[6] Under Tufaili's militant leadership however, Hezbollah "remained adamant" in its refusal to release either "any IDF soldiers [or] any Western hostages" it held.[7]
In 1991 or 92 Tufaili lost his job to Abbas al-Musawi. 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 better equipped to lead Hezbollah in its new primary mission of fighting Israel and ending Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon.[8]
Tufaili left the movement in 1992 in protest over Hezbollah's participation in the parliamentary elections and its "moderation" toward the Lebanese state.[9] Since then he has been active in fighting Hezbollah and the Lebanese government.
In July 1997 he organized protest against government which has been called "hunger revolution".[10] Tufeili said it is "completely unacceptable that a human being could be humiliated because of poverty or because they were in need."[11]
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.[12]
He is wanted by the Lebanese government for leading a revolution against the country, but has not been arrested.[13]
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[3]:
"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.[14] 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.[9]
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.[9][15]
He has stated the Hassan Nasrallah implements the agenda of Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of the Islamic Republic of Iran.[16]
Hezbollah Lebanon hostage crisis
| Preceded by Ragheb Harb |
Secretary-General of Hezbollah 1989-1991 |
Succeeded by Abbas al-Musawi |