Sheikh Naim Qassim, deputy leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah. file. , Photo courtesy: Reuters
Lebanese armed group Hezbollah said on Tuesday (October 29, 2024) that it has chosen deputy chief Naim Qassim to succeed him. Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah killedWho was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs a month earlier.
The group said in a written statement that its Shura Council had chosen Qasim, 71, in accordance with the mechanism established to choose the secretary-general.
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He was appointed deputy head of Hezbollah in 1991 by Abbas al-Musawi, the armed group’s then-secretary-general, who was killed in an Israeli helicopter strike the following year.
Qassim remained in his role when Nasrallah became leader, and has long been one of Hezbollah’s leading spokesmen, conducting interviews with foreign media, including during last year’s cross-border hostilities with Israel.
Nasrallah was assassinated on September 27 Senior Hezbollah leader Hashem Saffieddin – considered the most likely successor – was killed in Israeli strikes a week later.
Since Nasrallah’s assassination, Qassem has given three televised addresses, including an October 8 speech in which he said the armed group supports efforts to reach a ceasefire for Lebanon.
published – October 29, 2024 02:52 PM IST