BEIRUT (Reuters) -Lebanese armed group Hezbollah stated on Tuesday it had elected deputy head Naim Qassem to succeed slain secretary common Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli air assault on Beirut’s southern suburb over a month in the past.
The group stated in a written assertion that its Shura Council had elected Qassem, 71, in accordance with its established mechanism for selecting a secretary common.
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 12 months.
Qassem remained in his function when Nasrallah turned chief, and has lengthy been certainly one of Hezbollah’s main spokesmen, conducting interviews with international media, together with as cross-border hostilities with Israel raged during the last 12 months.
Nasrallah was killed on Sept. 27, and senior Hezbollah determine Hashem Safieddine – thought of the almost definitely successor – was killed in Israeli strikes per week later.
Since Nasrallah’s killing, Qassem has given three televised addresses, together with one on Oct. 8 wherein he stated the armed group supported efforts to succeed in a ceasefire for Lebanon.
