Lebanon’s Hezbollah says Naim Qassem will replace slain leader Hassan Nasrallah
Terror expert: Leadership of Hezbollah has been “decapitated”
02:37
Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group announced Tuesday that Naim Qassem, a deputy to its slain long-time leader Hassan Nasrallah, will helm the Iran-backed organization. Qassem has been serving as the group’s acting leader since Nasrallah’s death.
“Hezbollah’s (governing) Shura Council agreed to elect … Sheikh Naim Qassem as secretary general of Hezbollah,” the militant group said in a statement on Tuesday.
There was initial speculation that the head of Hezbollah’s executive council, Hashem Safieddine, would succeed Nasrallah, but he was killed in another Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs in October.
Haley Ott
contributed to this report.
Source: cbsnews.com