Hezbollah leader makes rare appearence in Beirut
- 12 years ago
A rare sighting in Lebanon. For the first time since 2008, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah appears in public walking among thousands of mourners marking Ashura, one of the most important events in the Shi'ite calendar.
Nasrallah's brief appearance and speech to the public appeared to be a sign of defiance amid tension in the region between Iran, its mainly ally, and its arch-foe Israel, as well as intensifying pressure on its second ally, Syria.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, saying (Arabic):
''We are going to hold on to our resistance and to the weapons of the resistance and I will tell you more on this day of Ashura, that day by day we are growing in numbers and our training is getting better and we are more confident about the future and we are becoming more armed. If anyone thinks that our arms are turning rusty, we tell them that if the weapons rust, we will replace them with new ones.''
Asura was also marked in other parts of the country. Hundreds marked the death of the grandson of the prophet Mohammed in a blood-letting ritual.
Many Shi'ites across the Muslim world still practice the ritual of self-flagellation as a show of solidarity with the suffering of their sect.
Usually they beat their chests, backs or heads with metal chains or sharp-edged objects like to draw blood. Afterwards they beat the wounds.
Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters.
Nasrallah's brief appearance and speech to the public appeared to be a sign of defiance amid tension in the region between Iran, its mainly ally, and its arch-foe Israel, as well as intensifying pressure on its second ally, Syria.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, saying (Arabic):
''We are going to hold on to our resistance and to the weapons of the resistance and I will tell you more on this day of Ashura, that day by day we are growing in numbers and our training is getting better and we are more confident about the future and we are becoming more armed. If anyone thinks that our arms are turning rusty, we tell them that if the weapons rust, we will replace them with new ones.''
Asura was also marked in other parts of the country. Hundreds marked the death of the grandson of the prophet Mohammed in a blood-letting ritual.
Many Shi'ites across the Muslim world still practice the ritual of self-flagellation as a show of solidarity with the suffering of their sect.
Usually they beat their chests, backs or heads with metal chains or sharp-edged objects like to draw blood. Afterwards they beat the wounds.
Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters.