Hezbollah elects Naim Qassem to succeed assassinated leader Nasrallah
Lebanon's Hezbollah said on October 29 that it had elected deputy leader Naim Qassem to succeed assassinated Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the southern outskirts of Beirut more than a month ago.
The group said in a written statement that its Shura Council elected Mr Qassem, 71, under an established mechanism for selecting a secretary-general.
Mr Qassem was appointed deputy leader of Hezbollah in 1991 by the militant group's then-secretary-general, Abbas al-Musawi, who was killed in an Israeli helicopter attack the following year.
Mr. Qassem retained that role when Mr. Nasrallah became leader and has long been one of Hezbollah’s top spokespeople, giving interviews to foreign media, including as cross-border fighting with Israel raged over the past year.
Mr Nasrallah was assassinated on 27 September, and senior Hezbollah figure Hashem Safieddine – seen as the most likely successor – was also killed in Israeli air strikes a week later.
Since Mr Nasrallah's assassination, Mr Qassem has made three televised speeches, including one on October 8 in which he said the armed group supported efforts to achieve a ceasefire for Lebanon.
