(CLO) Sheikh Naim Qassem, who was elected as the new leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon on October 29, has been a senior figure in the group for more than 30 years.
Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group says it has chosen Sheikh Naim Qassem as its new leader after its predecessor Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli air strike last month.
The Shura Council elected Qassem, who had been Nasrallah's deputy for more than 30 years, as the new leader. Hezbollah vowed to continue Nasrallah's policies "until victory is achieved".
Sheikh Naim Qassem attends a memorial service in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, July 10. Photo: Reuters
Speaking on October 8, Qassem said the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel is a battle over who cries first, and Hezbollah will not cry first. The group's capabilities remain intact despite "painful blows" from Israel.
But he added that the group supported efforts by parliament speaker Nabih Berri - a Hezbollah ally - to secure a ceasefire.
Qassem was appointed deputy leader in 1991 by the armed group's then-secretary-general Abbas al-Musawi, who was killed in an Israeli helicopter attack the following year.
Qassem retained his role when Nasrallah became leader, and has long been one of Hezbollah's leading spokesmen, giving interviews to foreign media, including during last year's cross-border conflict with Israel.
Qassem's televised speech on October 8 was his second since hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah escalated in September.
He was the first member of Hezbollah's senior leadership to make a televised statement after Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs on September 27.
Speaking on September 30, Qassem said Hezbollah would choose a successor to the assassinated leader "as soon as possible" and would continue to fight Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians.
"What we are doing is the bare minimum... We know that the fight is likely to be a long one," he said in a 19-minute speech.
Born in 1953 in Beirut to a family from south Lebanon, Qassem began his political career with the Lebanese Shi'ite Amal Movement.
He left the group in 1979 after the Islamic Revolution in Iran, an event that shaped the political thinking of many young Shi'ite activists in Lebanon.
Qassem participated in meetings that led to the founding of Hezbollah, which was formed with the support of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in response to Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982. He has been the general coordinator of Hezbollah's election campaigns since the group first ran in 1992.
Qassem wears a white turban, unlike Nasrallah and Safieddine, who wear black turbans to signify their status as descendants of the Prophet Muhammad.
Ngoc Anh (according to Reuters)
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/sheikh-naim-qassem-lanh-dao-moi-cua-hezbollah-la-ai-post319014.html
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