That changed shortly after Syria withdrew from Lebanon, when Siniora's government, heady with anti-Syria and independence slogans, swept to power in national elections. The Interior Ministry was taken over by pro-Western Sunnis. A flurry of recruitment rapidly grew the ranks of the ISF to 24,000 troops.
"The Shiites are very upset. They don't understand why there's this new intelligence agency and they're not represented in it," said Timur Goksel, a military analyst and longtime United Nations negotiator.
Although Lebanon had three intelligence agencies, the slaying of lawmaker Gibran Tueni, a Damascus critic, last December convinced the government that it needed an anti-Syria intelligence group, Fatfat said.
The effort was led by Saad Hariri, head of the parliament's majority bloc and communal leader of the Sunni sect. Hariri's father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, was killed last year in a bombing blamed on Syria.
The move to equip the intelligence agency and to install surveillance cameras on the streets of Beirut met resistance from Hezbollah and Amal, the two Shiite parties, Fatfat said. He acknowledged that Sunnis and Christians made up most of the ISF, which also has a large contingent of Shiites. He denied any deliberate sectarian shift.
The popular perception is that the ISF is an armed Sunni and Christian wing and a supporter of Siniora's government. On the street and among some analysts, there is a conviction that Siniora, Hariri and Fatfat developed the ISF to protect Sunni interests in Lebanon.
"There is no trust of the [ISF] here; they are seen as a sectarian Sunni force," Goksel said. "Not just the Shiites say it, but the Christians too: that it's to make up for the lack of a Sunni militia."
With Hezbollah pledging to drive the government out of office, there is growing trepidation among many Lebanese over whether the ISF will take part in street fighting.
There are also worries about what the ISF would do in a civil war. Lebanon has a history of armed forces dividing along sectarian lines, or devolving into militias, during religious strife.
"The ISF is now perceived as a threat by the Shiites," said Patrick Haenni, an analyst for the International Crisis Group.
Gen. Michel Aoun, a former military commander who has formed a political alliance with Hezbollah, has spoken out against the ISF, calling it a militia.
