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| 13/05/2008 "For a year, the main Lebanese political faction backed by the United States built a Sunni Muslim militia in Lebanon under the guise of private security companies", the Los Angeles Times quoted Lebanese security experts officials as saying.
"The fighters, aligned with Saad Hariri's Future movement, were trained and armed to counter the heavily armed Hezbollah group", the daily said. But everything has changed in a single night as "the Future movement fighters quickly fled Beirut or gave up their weapons" fearing the power of the national opposition fighters.
Attacked by Hezbollah, the Future movement fighters quickly fled Beirut or gave up their weapons, the daily said. Afterward, some of the fighters said they felt betrayed by their political patrons, who failed to give them the means to protect themselves while official security forces stood aside and let Hezbollah destroy them, it added.
"We are prepared to fight for a few hours but not more," the paper quoted one militant from the Future movement. "Even Saad Hariri has left us to face our fate alone." "You can't just spend millions of dollars to build an army in one year," the Los Angeles Times quoted the head of a private security firm in Beirut. "They have to be motivated and believe in something."
According to the Los Angeles Times, Hariri's deputies have denied his movement was building a militia, though ranking military officials, independent analysts and employees of the security firm, called Secure Plus, say it was doing just that." Private security firms are the latest arrivals to a hodgepodge of armed groups that include Islamic militants inspired by Al Qaeda, Palestinian militias."
"It was the largest of dozens of security firms that have sprung up in recent years… and has received $60 million in training and equipment from the U.S.. Run by retired Lebanese army officers, it ostensibly provides security for banks, hotels and offices… with 3,000 employees and unofficial associates on the payroll, mostly poor residents from the country's north."
"Future bloc has members of parliament, not fighters," said Hani Hammoud, a spokesman for Hariri. It "believes in the rule of law, and that it is up to official security and military agencies to resolve any problem that might arise."
Secure Plus employees, in beige pants and maroon shirts, were drilled for months in basic military training, including hand-to-hand combat, for a monthly salary of at least $350, the Los Angeles Times reported. | 
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