LEBANON: SECOND SON OF HEZBOLLAH LEADER TO FIGHT AGAINST ISRAEL

(20 Sep 1997) STORY
Arabic/Nat

The second son of the Hezbollah secretary general is to join guerrillas fighting Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.

Seventeen-year-old Jawad Nasrallah will replace his elder brother Hadi who was killed a week ago during clashes between the Iranian-backed guerrillas and Israeli troops.

Hezbollah secretary general Sheik Hassan Nasrallah has vowed to continue targeting Israel, despite U-S calls for peace.

In a ceremony in the suburbs of Beirut on Saturday, a Hezbollah military commander handed military fatigues and a rifle to 17-year-old Jawad Nasrallah.

Jawad's father, secretary general of the militant Islamic guerrillas group looked on proudly.

Jawad will join the guerrillas on the Israeli occupied border in the south of Lebanon, where his brother Hadi was killed last Saturday.

Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah has received a steady stream of visitors since his eldest son Hadi was killed, including visits from Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and members of the cabinet.

Jawad's swearing-in was also attended by scores of Hezbollah guerrillas.

Many wore T-shirts depicting Hadi as a martyr and repeated their vow to keep up the armed struggle against Israel.

The militant group is trying to oust Israeli troops and allied militiamen from the security zone Israel set up in 1985 to protect its northern settlements from cross-border raids.

In retaliation for the killing of Hadi, Hezbollah targeted an Israeli patrol east of the southern port city of Tyre last Sunday, killing two Israeli soldiers and wounding a third.

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