| inbluevt | Date: Monday, 2013/07/22, 4:28 PM | Message # 1 | DMCA |
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EU foreign ministers agreed on Monday to put the military wing of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah on the bloc's list of terrorist
groups. But sanctions will have little impact on the "Party of God,"
which has long since become Lebanon's most powerful political force.
It's a mistake that many make when they first arrive in Lebanon. Along the highway between the airport and city center, they see portraits of a
plump man hanging on buildings, billboards and street lamps. He wears a
black turban and glasses, his mouth usually turned up in a smile under
his bushy, gray beard. Visitors often wonder if this is Lebanon's
president.
But Hassan Nasrallah holds neither the office of president, nor any other political post in the country. Nevertheless, he is a powerful man
in his homeland -- perhaps even its most powerful -- as the leader of Hezbollah, the Shiite militant group and political party that heads the strongest
coalition in the country's parliament. Nasrallah also directs thousands
of elite fighters who are searching for like-minded recruits in the
region. Thanks to Nasrallah's private army, which is fighting on the
side of the Syrian regime, President Bashar Assad has the upper hand
against rebels there once again.
Read on
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