Hezbollah cleric Naim Kassem picked to lead Lebanese militant group [Video]

Hezbollah announced on Tuesday that it has chosen cleric Naim Kassem to lead the Lebanese militant group after the killing of its longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike on a Beirut suburb in late September.The group said in a statement that Hezbollah’s decision-making Shura Council elected Kassem, 71, as its new secretary-general and vowed to continue Nasrallah’s policies “until victory is achieved.”Since Nasrallah’s death as part of an Israeli offensive that took out many of Hezbollah’s senior officials, the white-turbaned cleric with a gray beard has often been the public face of the Lebanese militant group. He is one of its founding members but is widely seen by supporters as lacking his predecessor’s oratory skills.In a televised speech earlier this month, Kassem, who carries the clerical title of sheikh, claimed Hezbollah’s military capabilities were intact after Nasrallah’s assassination and warned Israelis they will only suffer further as fighting …