Abbas al-Musawi

{{Short description|Secretary-General of Hezbollah from 1991 to 1992}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Abbas al-Musawi

| native_name = {{nobold|عباس الموسوي}}

| native_name_lang = ar

| image = Abbas al Musawi (cropped).jpg

| caption = Al-Musawi in 1990

| order = 2nd

| office = Secretary-General of Hezbollah

| deputy = Naim Qassem

| term_start = May 1991

| term_end = 16 February 1992

| predecessor = Subhi al-Tufayli

| successor = Hassan Nasrallah

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1952|10|26}}

| birth_place = Al-Nabi Shayth, Lebanon

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1992|2|16|1952|10|26}}

| death_place = Nabatieh Governorate, Lebanon

| death_cause = Assassination by airstrike

| occupation = Shia cleric

}}

Abbas al-Musawi ({{IPAc-en|ə|'|b|ɑː|s|_|əl|m|uː|ˈ|s|ɑː|w|i}} {{respell|ə|BAHSS|_|əl|moo|SAH|wee}}; {{langx|ar|عباس الموسوي}}; 26 October 1952 – 16 February 1992) was a Lebanese Shia cleric who served as the second secretary-general of Hezbollah from 1991 until his assassination by Israel in 1992.

Early life and education

Al-Musawi was born into a Shia family in the village of Al-Nabi Shayth in the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon on 26 October 1952.{{Cite web |title=Abbās al-Mūsawī |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/399459/Abbas-al-Musawi |access-date=23 July 2012 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica}} He spent eight years studying theology in a religious school in Najaf, Iraq, where he was deeply influenced by the views of Iranian religious leader Ruhollah Khomeini. Al-Musawi was a student, at the hawza in Najaf, of Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, an influential Shi'a cleric, philosopher, political leader, and founder of the Da'wa Party of Iraq.{{Cite journal |last=Deeb |first=Marius |date=April 1988 |title=Shia Movements in Lebanon: Their Formation, Ideology, Social Basis, and Links with Iran and Syria |journal=Third World Quarterly |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=683–698 |doi=10.1080/01436598808420077 |jstor=3992662}}

Activities

Al-Musawi returned to Lebanon in 1978. Along with Subhi al-Tufayli he spearheaded the formation of Hezbollah movement in the Beqaa Valley in 1982, one of the three major areas of Shia population in Lebanon.{{Cite book |last=Ranstorp |first=Magnus |url=https://archive.org/details/hizballahinleban00rans |title=Hizb'allah in Lebanon : The Politics of the Western Hostage Crisis |publisher=St. Martins Press |year=1997 |isbn=0-312-16288-X |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/hizballahinleban00rans/page/46 46] |url-access=registration}} From 1983 to 1985 he was reported to have served as operational head of the Hezbollah Special Security Apparatus. From late 1985 until April 1988 he was head of Hezbollah's military wing, the Islamic Resistance.Foreign Report, 30 July 1987Ha'aretz, 2 October 1987al-Hayat, 27 November 1989Independent, 7 March 1990

According to some reports (while others attribute the act to Subhi al-Tufayli), al-Musawi was responsible for the abduction of Lt. Col William Higgins while commander of Hezbollah's Islamic Resistance (military wing).Jerusalem Post, 21 February 1988Ha'aretz, 28 February 1989

In 1991, Hezbollah had entered a new era with the end of both the Iran–Iraq War and Lebanese Civil War as well as the Taif Agreement and the release of the Kuwait 17 bombers. A new leader was thought to be needed to facilitate the release of the Western hostages held by Hezbollah and, more importantly, to shift Hezbollah's focus to resistance activity against Israel.

Al-Musawi also promised to "intensify [Hezbollah] military, political and popular action in order to undermine the peace-talks."Middle East International, 8 November 1991 He did not support entering mainstream politics.{{Cite web |last=Simon |first=Kevin |year=2012 |title=Hezbollah: Terror in Context |url=http://digitalcommons.olin.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1017&context=ahs_capstone_2012&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fscholar.google.com%2Fscholar%3Fhl%3Den%26q%3Dlebanese%2Bcivil%2Bwar%2Band%2Bpolitical%2Bpersonas%26btnG%3D%26as_sdt%3D1%252C5%26as_sdtp%3D#search=%22lebanese%20civil%20war%20political%20personas%22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104005747/http://digitalcommons.olin.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1017&context=ahs_capstone_2012&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fscholar.google.com%2Fscholar%3Fhl%3Den%26q%3Dlebanese%2Bcivil%2Bwar%2Band%2Bpolitical%2Bpersonas%26btnG%3D%26as_sdt%3D1%252C5%26as_sdtp%3D#search=%22lebanese%20civil%20war%20political%20personas%22 |archive-date=4 January 2014 |access-date=2 July 2012 |publisher=Olin College of Engineering}} Unlike other Hezbollah figures, he advocated the acceptance of Taif Agreement, which was the rejection of a theocratic state in Lebanon.{{Cite journal |last=Staten |first=Cliff |year=2008 |title=From Terrorism to Legitimacy: Political Opportunity Structures and the Case of Hezbollah |url=http://www.trinstitute.org/ojpcr/8_1staten.pdf |journal=The Online Journal of Peace and Conflict Resolution |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=32–49 |access-date=17 March 2013}}

Assassination

File:Abbas al-Musawi Shrine in Seth Prophet Town.jpg]]

On 16 February 1992, Israeli Apache helicopters fired missiles at the three vehicle motorcade of al-Musawi in southern Lebanon, killing al-Musawi,Gal Perl Finkel, [https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Changing-the-rules-in-the-Gaza-Strip-comes-with-a-cost-569318 Changing the rules in the Gaza Strip comes with a cost], The Jerusalem Post, 13 October 2018. his wife, his five-year-old son, and four others.Middle East International No 419, 21 February 1992, Publishers Lord Mayhew, Dennis Walters MP; Editor Michael Adams; Jim Muir p. 3 Israel said the attack had been planned as an assassination attempt in retaliation for the kidnapping and death of missing Israeli servicemen in 1986 and the abduction of US Marine and UN peace-keeping officer William R. Higgins in 1988.{{Cite book |last=Ranstorp |first=Magnus |url=https://archive.org/details/hizballahinleban00rans/page/107 |title=Hizb'allah in Lebanon: The Politics of the Western Hostage Crisis |publisher=St. Martins Press |year=1997 |isbn=0-312-16288-X |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/hizballahinleban00rans/page/107 107] |url-access=registration}}

Later it was revealed by Dieter Bednarz and Ronen Bergman that the original plan of Israel had been just to abduct al Musawi to ensure the release of Israeli prisoners. However, Ehud Barak, then Israeli chief of staff, convinced then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir to order his assassination. Bergman also said that some Israeli military officials had opposed the assassination, warning: "Hezbollah is not a one-man show, and Musawi is not the most extreme man in its leadership...[al-Musawi] would be replaced, perhaps by someone more radical.”

In retaliation, the Islamic Jihad Organization attacked the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 29 civilians.{{Cite news |last1=Dieter Bednarz |last2=Ronen Bergman |date=17 January 2011 |title=Mossad Zeros in on Tehran's Nuclear Program |work=Der Spiegel |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/israel-s-shadowy-war-on-iran-mossad-zeros-in-on-tehran-s-nuclear-program-a-739883-3.html |access-date=23 July 2012}} After the attack, the Islamic Jihad Organization declared that it was carried out as revenge for the martyr infant Hussein, al-Musawi's five-year-old son, who had been killed with his father.{{Cite news |last=Long |first=William R. |date=19 March 1992 |title=Islamic Jihad Says It Bombed Embassy; Toll 21 |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-03-19-mn-5905-story.html |access-date=23 July 2012}}

On 7 February 1994, four Israeli soldiers were killed and three wounded in an ambush in southern Lebanon which Hezbollah announced was to mark the anniversary of al-Musawi’s death. There were no Hezbollah casualties in the attack.Middle East International No 469, 18 February 1994, Gerald Butt p.9

Al-Musawi was succeeded as Secretary General of Hezbollah by Hassan Nasrallah. Nasrallah would prove to be a more effective leader than Al-Musawi, increasing Hezbollah's power and influence significantly.{{cite news |last1=Al-Marashi |first1=Ibrahim |title=Israel's assassinations of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders will backfire |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/8/1/israels-assassinations-of-hamas-and-hezbollah-leaders-will-backfire |work=Al Jazeera |language=en}} Nasrallah was assassinated in Beirut by an Israeli airstrike on 27 September 2024.{{cite web |title=Israel-Lebanon latest: Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah killed in Beirut |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c981g8mrl8lt |website=BBC News |publisher=BBC |access-date=28 September 2024}}