Mūsawī, ʿAbbās al-

▪ Lebanese religious leader

born c. 1952, Al-Nabī Shīt, Lebanon

died February 16, 1992, southern Lebanon

      Lebanese Shīʿite Muslim cleric and secretary-general (1991–92) of the militant Hezbollah (“Party of God”) movement.

      Mūsawī studied at a Shīʿite madrasah (religious college) in Al-Najaf, Iraq, where he was strongly influenced by the teachings of Iranian cleric Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (Khomeini, Ruhollah). Mūsawī returned to Lebanon in 1978 and four years later—inspired by the successful Khomeini-led Islamic revolution in Iran—helped to form Hezbollah in an effort to resist the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon (1982) and to promote Shīʿite interests in that country. Although he denied any direct involvement in acts of terrorism, many Western observers believed that under his leadership Hezbollah was responsible for a number of terrorist actions, including the 1983 bombing attacks in Beirut that killed some 300 U.S. and French peacekeeping troops. After he was named secretary-general of Hezbollah, Mūsawī publicly denounced such attacks and endorsed more moderate policies. He was killed by an Israeli helicopter strike on his motorcade.

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