The head of Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, who has lived in hiding for the past decade, said Thursday he travelled to Damascus to seek the Syrian president’s approval of a jihadist evacuation deal.
“I personally went to Damascus” to see President Bashar al-Assad, Hassan Nasrallah told thousands of his supporters in a televised speech.
Nasrallah, 57, has only made rare public appearances since the 2006 war against his arch-foe Israel. As a figure on Israel’s most wanted list, he said in 2014 that he often changed his place of residence in the utmost secrecy.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah gives a speech from an undisclosed location in Lebanon on Thursday. Photo: EPA
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On Monday, hundreds of Islamic State group fighters and civilians were evacuated from the border region between Lebanon and Syria under a ceasefire deal and headed toward eastern Syria near the Iraqi border.
The truce deal was negotiated between IS and Hezbollah, which has intervened in Syria’s six-year war to prop up Assad’s government.
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The agreement has been criticised inside Lebanon, as well by the US-led coalition fighting IS in Syria and Iraq and especially by Baghdad.
Supporters of Hezbollah wave party flags to celebrate the group’s victory against the Islamic State (IS) in Ras al Ayn area near Baalbek eastern Lebanon on Thursday. Photo: EPA
