Nasrallah, Sheikh Hassan (1960–)

Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah became general secretary of the Lebanese Shiite Muslim movement Hezbollah in 1992, and he presided over Israel's 2000 withdrawal from southern Lebanon. Nasrallah has been described by some as Hezbollah's most diplomatic leader, and he has guided the organization into a more political role in Lebanon. For example, Hezbollah provides needed social services for Lebanon's Shia population. However, Nasrallah has also supervised the group's violent activities.

The son of a poor vegetable vendor and a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, Nasrallah fled his home in East Beirut in 1975 at the start of the Lebanese civil war. He later traveled to Iraq to study theology in the holy Shiite city of Najaf. Like many Shiite leaders, Nasrallah left Iraq by a decree of President Saddam Hussein. When he was 21, Nasrallah helped found the militant Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, or “Party of God.” During the 1980s, when Hezbollah made headlines by taking a number of Western hostages, Nasrallah served as a commander in Lebanon's Bekaa region.

When the Lebanese civil war ended in the early 1990s, most of the country's militias disarmed; Hezbollah, however, continued to fight Israeli troops occupying southern Lebanon. In 1992, Israeli forces assassinated Nasrallah's predecessor, Abbas Musawi, along with his wife and five-year-old son. Hezbollah members then elected Nasrallah to head the party. Under Nasrallah's leadership, Hezbollah grew into a great political force, holding seats in the Lebanese Parliament and managing schools, hospitals, and various media outlets. In 1997, Nasrallah's 18-year-old son Muhammad Hadi was killed in a fight with Israeli soldiers inside southern Lebanon. After his son's death, Nasrallah told a Beirut crowd that he thanked God for choosing his son to be a martyr.

When the Israeli forces withdrew from southern Lebanon in May 2000, Nasrallah publicly announced that his Hezbollah fighters had won the only Arab victory in the 50-year conflict with Israel. The withdrawal led to a significant increase in the popularity of Hezbollah in general, and of Nasrallah [Page 417]in particular, among the Shia. However, although Hezbollah has achieved some success as a political party, including winning representation in Lebanon's parliamentary elections, Nasrallah himself has stayed above the fray. The terrorism analyst Walid Phares has described Nasrallah as a “messianic figure, much higher than any official in Lebanon.” Nasrallah's position on terrorism in general has proved a bit paradoxical: he has condemned both al Qaeda and the Taliban to Western reporters, but he has also met with leaders of Hamas.

Hezbollah supporters listen to their leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah address a speech through a video link to mark the end of Hezbollah's construction arm planting of 1 million trees in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on October 9, 2010.

(AP Photo/Hussein Malla. 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)