Lebanon's Assir: radical cleric at war with the army

Controversial Lebanese Sunni sheikh Ahmad al-Assir, whose supporters are engaged in a deadly stand-off with the army, gained prominence for his anti-Hezbollah rhetoric but began by proselytising in a mosque in the south.
Assir was a virtual political unknown until about two years ago, when he became Lebanon's most outspoken critic of powerful Shiite Hezbollah and its Damascus ally, President Bashar al-Assad.
Although he was born to a Shiite Muslim mother, his discourse is openly sectarian.
Assir has often called on his supporters -- who number in the hundreds, experts say -- to block roads, and more recently, to join Syria's mainly Sunni rebels.

Although few have heeded his call, his angry, provocative style has won him mass media coverage in the small Mediterranean country.
The oldest of five children, Assir, 43, has two wives, both of whom wear the full-face veil.

His father was a folk-singer, although Assir convinced him to quit singing and become more religious.
Assir's sister Nohad told AFP he once supported Hezbollah's fight against Israel, "but he left when he saw the truth" about the Shiite movement.
Despite his marginal role in Lebanese politics, Assir has capitalised on Hezbollah's increasing notoriety in recent months, especially over its involvement in fighting alongside Assad's forces against rebels.

In spring 2012, Assir started to organise rallies in support of Syria's opposition.
He has gone from preaching in a garage-turned-mosque in southern Lebanon's port city of Sidon to attracting supporters through firebrand anti-Assad and anti-Hezbollah speeches.
In June 2012, Assir said in a speech that "the criminal Assad has tried, alongside his swine militiamen, to terrorise you and make you kneel by committing massacres".
He dismissed Assad's main backers Russia and Iran as "criminal killers who drink blood".
In a sermon in his mosque, he called on his supporters to stage "a real uprising" against Hezbollah.
"There is a miserable swine of an Iranian project that is slaughtering us and raping our women, and heading this project is (Hezbollah chief) Hassan Nasrallah," Assir said.