Hezbollah elects Naim Qassem to succeed slain head Nasrallah

BEIRUT (Reuters): Lebanese armed group Hezbollah said on Tuesday it had elected deputy head Naim Qassem to succeed slain secretary general Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli air attack on Beirut’s southern suburb over a month ago.

The group said in a written statement that its Shoura Council had elected Qassem, 71, in accordance with its established mechanism for choosing a secretary general.

He was appointed as Hezbollah’s deputy chief in 1991 by the armed group’s then-secretary general Abbas Al-Musawi, who was killed by an Israeli helicopter attack the following year.

Qassem remained in his role when Nasrallah became leader, and has long been one of Hezbollah’s leading spokesmen, conducting interviews with foreign media, including as cross-border hostilities with Israel raged over the last year.

Nasrallah was killed on Sept. 27, and senior Hezbollah figure Hashem Safieddine — considered the most likely successor — was killed in Israeli strikes a week later.

Since Nasrallah’s killing, Qassem has given three televised addresses, including one on Oct. 8 in which he said the armed group supported efforts to reach a ceasefire for Lebanon.