NOW: Top Hezbollah official begins speech

 

Lebanon's Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem delivers an address from an unknown location, on September 30. 

Al Manar TV/Reuters

Hezbollah’s highest-ranking official is giving a televised statement, the first public address by a figure from the group since the assassination of its leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Naim Qassim, who was a candidate to lead Hezbollah before Nasrallah’s appointment, is known for his religious knowledge and scholastic prowess. Born in 1953 in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, Qassim is a well-known member of the old guard. The 71-year-old Shiite cleric helped found Hezbollah in 1982, and has served seven consecutive terms as deputy secretary-general since 1991. He also oversees the group’s parliamentary activities.

He was the group’s second-in-command before Nasrallah was assassinated, often appearing in media interviews. In 2015, he wrote the book “Hezbollah: The Story from Within,” which laid out the group’s political ideology.