"...[Hizbullah] is the least corrupt of all Lebanese parties, very efficient, and in close contact with the people they serve..."
http://www.ghaliboun.net/enewsdetails.php?id=236
Sayyed Nasrallah, the country's most charismatic politician
By Jonathan Steele in Beirut
Even his most severe Lebanese opponents recognise Sheikh Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the undisputed leader of the Shia movement Hizbullah, as the country most charismatic politician. A clear and lively speaker who switches from classical Arabic to modern slang with ease, he more than any other Lebanese has the power of war and peace. Unusually for a religious leader, Sheikh Nasrallah also fulfils the role of political supremo and military commander. "The perception of Nasrallah is that he is in the war room, taking the decisions," says Basher Haider, a professor of philosophy at the American University in Beirut.
Sheikh Nasrallah is not shy of being photographed carrying a gun, though always held triumphantly above his head. His eldest son was killed by the Israelis and he publicly handed a rifle to his next son to carry on the struggle. Hizbullah (the party of God) is more than just a political party. It is a movement with a strong welfare chapter that helps poor Shias in the southern suburbs of Beirut and southern Lebanon. "It is the least corrupt of all Lebanese parties, very efficient, and in close contact with the people they serve," Professor Haider says.
Born in Bourji Hammoud, east of Beirut, Sheikh Nasrallah was 15 when civil war forced the family back to their ancestral village in southern Lebanon. He studied at a Quranic seminary in the holy Iraqi city of Najaf, but left under pressure from Saddam Hussein police in 1978. He joined Hizbullah during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and went back to his religious studies in Iran in 1989. He is believed to have been influenced by the fact that clerics led the anti-western revolution in Iran in 1979.
While an earlier generation was attracted to the secular pan-Arabism of Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, Nasrallah felt that Islamism (Islam) was the best way of uniting Arabs in the struggle against Israeli and US dominance. He took over the Hizbullah leadership in 1992 at 32 when its founder was assassinated by "Israel". He helped build it into a force that led "Israel" to withdraw from southern Lebanon in 2000 after two decades of occupation.
Despite his years of religious studies, Sheikh Nasrallah does not exert his authority through writing books. Some Lebanese describe his motivation as more nationalist than religious. Even in the movement stronghold in southern Beirut he does not push an Islamic dresscode or agenda. Many women go out unveiled, and, although no alcohol shops or bars are permitted, residents who drink at home with friends are not hassled. He is married and has three surviving children.
Source:The Guardian, 22-7-2006. Date: 22/07/2006 Time 15:36