Hezbollah has announced that one of its founding members, Naim Qassem, will be its new chief. It said 71-year-old Qassem has served as Deputy Secretary General of the Lebanese group since 1991.
Qassem will succeed Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed more than a month ago in an Israeli bombing. On October 22, Israel confirmed that it had also eliminated Hashem Safieddine, the apparent successor of the former leader, in Beirut three weeks ago.
The U.S. State Department designated Hezbollah as a foreign terrorist organization in October 1997. More than 60 other countries and organizations, including the EU, the Arab League, and the Gulf Cooperation Council, have also designated Hezbollah either in part or in its entirety as a terrorist group.
