Over the next four years, he became increasingly involved with the radical Shiite Amal movement in Lebanon.

NPR: Who Is Hezbollah?

The Meqdads, like several other Shiite clans that hail from Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley, maintain virtual private armies and have long had a troubled relationship with the Lebanese state, as well as with the country's two most powerful and organized Shiite militia and political parties, Hezbollah and the Amal movement.

WSJ: Syria Sends Shocks Through Lebanon, Mideast

The other elements in the opposition coalition come from allies such as the mainstream Shia Amal movement, headed by parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri, and the Free Patriotic Movement of the Christian leader Michel Aoun, once a fierce opponent of Syria but now reconciled with Damascus and likely to do well in many Christian areas.

BBC: How far will US support for Lebanon go?