document · Article
Amal Movement behavioral conduct-axis record: its militia's participation in the May 2008 armed takeover of West Beirut alongside Hezbollah — turning arms inward against fellow Lebanese, conducting searches and arrests of Future Movement militants. Documented by the International Crisis Group, "Hizbollah's Weapons Turn Inward" (15 May 2008; ETH/ISN mirror of the ICG briefing).
English 
Lebanon 2008-05-15 Tier 2 — primary or translation
Party: Amal Movement
Original source: https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/55928/b23_lebanon_hizbollahs_weapons.pdf
Content
The fighting pitted Hizbollah’s and Amal’s Shiite militias against Sunnis.
As of 10 May, the various groups involved in the fighting (Hizbollah as well as militias belonging to Amal and the National Social Syrian Party) were still in charge of a number of neighbourhoods and were continuing to conduct searches and arrests of local Future Current militants.
Several eyewitnesses said that in many instances Hizbollah militants assisted and coordinated large numbers of Amal fighters. English translation
[Source is in English; this field holds editorial context, not a translation. "Hizbollah" is the source's spelling of Hezbollah.] Behavioral conduct-axis record of the Amal Movement on democracy / civil-liberties / sectarianism. In May 2008, after the Lebanese government moved to dismantle Hezbollah's parallel telecommunications network and remove Beirut airport's security chief, Amal's militia — alongside Hezbollah — took part in the armed takeover of much of West Beirut, the first large-scale internal use of these movements' arms against fellow Lebanese. The International Crisis Group documented that the fighters conducted searches and arrests of rival (Future Movement) militants, and that "less disciplined Amal loyalists are believed to have committed many of these offences" — destroying cars and shops and hurling anti-Sunni insults — during the takeover. The crisis was ultimately settled by the Arab League-brokered Doha Agreement. [Axes: democracy (behavioral), civil-liberties, sectarianism, regional-stance.]
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In-text
(Amal Movement, 2008) Amal Movement. (2008). Amal Movement behavioral conduct-axis record: its militia's participation in the May 2008 armed takeover of West Beirut alongside Hezbollah — turning arms inward against fellow Lebanese, conducting searches and arrests of Future Movement militants. Documented by the International Crisis Group, "Hizbollah's Weapons Turn Inward" (15 May 2008; ETH/ISN mirror of the ICG briefing).. files.ethz.ch. Retrieved June 22, 2026, from https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/55928/b23_lebanon_hizbollahs_weapons.pdf
Amal Movement. 2008. "Amal Movement behavioral conduct-axis record: its militia's participation in the May 2008 armed takeover of West Beirut alongside Hezbollah — turning arms inward against fellow Lebanese, conducting searches and arrests of Future Movement militants. Documented by the International Crisis Group, "Hizbollah's Weapons Turn Inward" (15 May 2008; ETH/ISN mirror of the ICG briefing).." files.ethz.ch. Accessed June 22, 2026. https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/55928/b23_lebanon_hizbollahs_weapons.pdf.
@misc{doc-document-a1188153-1fd0-4eb0-89e7-f7584b586fb7,
author = {{Amal Movement}},
title = {Amal Movement behavioral conduct-axis record: its militia's participation in the May 2008 armed takeover of West Beirut alongside Hezbollah — turning arms inward against fellow Lebanese, conducting searches and arrests of Future Movement militants. Documented by the International Crisis Group, "Hizbollah's Weapons Turn Inward" (15 May 2008; ETH/ISN mirror of the ICG briefing).},
year = {2008},
date = {2008-05-15},
howpublished = {Online; hosted at files.ethz.ch},
url = {https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/55928/b23_lebanon_hizbollahs_weapons.pdf},
urldate = {2026-06-22},
note = {Retrieved via Tayyar at https://tarekgara.com/tayyar/documents/a1188153-1fd0-4eb0-89e7-f7584b586fb7},
} Retrieved via Tayyar: https://tarekgara.com/tayyar/documents/a1188153-1fd0-4eb0-89e7-f7584b586fb7 on June 22, 2026. Tayyar is a research host for primary sources, not the author of this document.