Naim Qassem, previously Hezbollah's Deputy Secretary-General, has been elected as the new leader of the Lebanese Shiite organization. "The Shura Council, Hezbollah's chief governing body, has chosen Sheikh Naim Qassem as the movement’s new Secretary-General," the organization announced.
In a statement, Hezbollah pledged to "work together to fulfill the movement's goals and keep the flame of resistance alive, with its banner held high until victory is achieved."
Sheikh Qassem has been a veteran of Hezbollah, serving as Deputy Secretary-General since 1991. He was appointed to the role following the leadership of Abbas Musawi, who was killed in southern Lebanon during an Israeli helicopter attack in 1992. On a September 27 this year, Hezbollah's long-time Secretary-General Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, who had led the group since 1992, was assassinated in Beirut.
Qassem’s political journey began in 1974 with the "Movement of the Oppressed" (now known as the Amal Movement), which was founded by Shiite Imam Musa al-Sadr. Following Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979, he joined a group of young Shiite activists who went on to establish Hezbollah in 1982 with support from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The newly elected Hezbollah leader was born in 1953 in the Basta al-Tahta district of Beirut, with family roots in Kafr Kila in southern Lebanon, an area with a significant Shiite population. He is married and has six children.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Bilal Hussein/AP/TASS
Based on TASS materials