File picture of Hashem Safieddine.
| Photograph Credit score: AFP
The killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in airstrikes in a Beirut suburb has put the highlight on the person broadly considered his inheritor, Hashem Safieddine. The Iran-backed group confirmed that Nasrallah, who led the group for 32 years, had been killed in Friday’s strike. It now faces the problem of selecting a brand new chief after the heaviest pounding the group has confronted in its 42-year-old historical past.
Listed below are some information about Safieddine, who a supply within the group stated survived the Israeli assaults.
* As head of the manager council, Safieddine oversees Hezbollah’s political affairs. He additionally sits on the Jihad Council, which manages the group’s navy operations.
* Safieddine is a cousin of Nasrallah and like him is a cleric who wears the black turban denoting descent from Islam’s Prophet Mohammed.
* The U.S. State Division designated him a terrorist in 2017 and in June he threatened an enormous escalation in opposition to Israel after the killing of one other Hezbollah commander. “Let (the enemy) put together himself to cry and wail,” he stated on the funeral.
* Safieddine’s public statements usually replicate Hezbollah’s militant stance and its alignment with the Palestinian trigger. At a latest occasion in Dahiyeh, Hezbollah’s stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs, he declared, “Our historical past, our weapons and our rockets are with you,” in a present of solidarity with Palestinian fighters.
* Nasrallah “began tailoring positions for him inside a wide range of completely different councils inside Lebanese Hezbollah. A few of them have been extra opaque than others. They’ve had him come, exit and communicate,” stated Philip Smyth, an professional who research Iran-backed Shi-ite militias.
* Safieddine’s household ties and a bodily resemblance to Nasrallah, in addition to his non secular standing as a descendant of Mohammed, would all depend in his favour.
* He has additionally been vocal in his criticism of U.S. coverage. In response to American strain on Hezbollah, he acknowledged in 2017, “This mentally impeded, loopy U.S. administration headed by Trump won’t be able to hurt the resistance,” asserting that such actions would solely strengthen Hezbollah’s resolve.
Revealed – September 28, 2024 06:36 pm IST
