Hezbollah Says Leader Hassan Nasrallah Is Re-Elected
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The militant Hezbollah group announced Thursday that Sheik Hassan Nasrallah has been re-elected as the Shiite Muslim group's leader for a sixth term.
A Hezbollah statement did not say when the group's top officials voted to re-elect Nasrallah, who has held the post since an Israeli helicopter gunship killed his predecessor, Sheik Abbas Musawi.
No one ran against Nasrallah.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Naim Kassim also has been re-elected as Nasrallah's deputy, according to the statement.
Hezbollah's leadership elections are usually held every three years but they were last held in 2004. A Hezbollah official said the two-year delay was caused by internal Lebanese differences and the 2006 Hezbollah-Israel war. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
Nasrallah, 49, is a strong critic of the United States which lists his group as a terrorist organization. Under his leadership, Hezbollah became active in internal Lebanese politics and the group now has two Cabinet ministers and holds 11 of parliament's 128 seats.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Founded in 1982, Hezbollah gained notoriety in the West when it was linked to the kidnapping of Western hostages and a series of bombings against Western targets.
Hezbollah has over the years grown to run a network of interests — clinics, schools, a TV station and a weekly newspaper. It caters mainly to Lebanon's 1.2 million Shiite Muslims, the country's largest single sect.