Lebanese armed group Hezbollah mentioned on Tuesday (October 29, 2024) it had elected deputy head Naim Qassem to succeed slain secretary general Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli air assault on Beirut’s southern suburb over a month in the past.
The group mentioned in a written assertion that its Shura Council had elected Qassem, 71, in accordance with its established mechanism for selecting a secretary common.
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He was appointed as Hezbollah’s deputy chief in 1991 by the armed group’s then-secretary common Abbas al-Musawi, who was killed by an Israeli helicopter assault the next yr.
Qassem remained in his function when Nasrallah turned chief, and has lengthy been one in every of Hezbollah’s main spokesmen, conducting interviews with overseas media, together with as cross-border hostilities with Israel raged during the last yr.
Nasrallah was killed on Sept. 27, and senior Hezbollah figure Hashem Safieddine – thought-about the most certainly successor – was killed in Israeli strikes per week later.
Since Nasrallah’s killing, Qassem has given three televised addresses, together with one on October 8 through which he mentioned the armed group supported efforts to achieve a ceasefire for Lebanon.
Printed – October 29, 2024 02:52 pm IST