Here’s a look at the life of Hassan Nasrallah, secretary-general of Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shiite Muslim militant group.
Personal:
Birth date: August 31, 1960
Birth place: Beirut, Lebanon
Father: Abd al-Karim, who worked as a grocer
Marriage: Fatima Yassin
Children: Muhammad Hadi (died in 1997), Muhammad Jawad, Zeinab, Muhammad Ali and Muhammad Mahdi
Education: Islamic seminaries in Iran and Iraq
Religion: Shiite Muslim
Other Facts:
Oldest of nine children.
Wears a black turban to signify that he is a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad.
Timeline:
1975 – After civil war breaks out in Lebanon, the Nasrallah family leaves Beirut and moves to a village near Tyre.
1976 – Nasrallah moves to Najaf, Iraq, to attend a Shiite seminary.
1978 – Is expelled from Iraq during a time of Shiite repression (President Saddam Hussein was a Sunni) and returns to Lebanon along with his mentor, Abbas Musawi. Musawi establishes a religious school in Baalbeck, where Nasrallah teaches and studies.
1978-1982 – Member of the Shiite Amal movement during Lebanon’s civil war.
1982 – Organizes a group to fight against the Israeli occupation of Lebanon. This group eventually evolves into Hezbollah.
1987-1989 – Studies at a seminary in Qom, Iran.
1989 – Represents Hezbollah in Tehran.
1991 – Abbas Musawi becomes the secretary-general of Hezbollah. Nasrallah returns to Lebanon.
February 1992 – Replaces Abbas Musawi as secretary-general of Hezbollah when Musawi is killed by an Israeli helicopter strike.
1997 – Nasrallah’s son, Muhammad Hadi, is killed in a clash with Israeli forces.
July 12, 2006 – Hezbollah crosses the border into Israel and captures two soldiers during a raid; a 34-day conflict ensues.
September 22, 2006 – Nasrallah makes his first public appearance since the beginning of the conflict in July, addressing hundreds of thousands of people at a rally in Beirut.
May 2008 – Declares the government’s move to shut down Hezbollah’s communications network “a declaration of war.” Armed conflict breaks out between Hezbollah and Lebanese forces.
May 21, 2008 – Lebanon and Hezbollah reach an agreement.
May 25, 2013 – In a televised speech, Nasrallah publicly acknowledges for the first time that Hezbollah fighters are in Syria battling in support of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.