'Nasrallah is our only statesman'

Beirut: Lebanese of all sectarian and political stripes point out the same piece of personal history when they talk about Hezbollah chief Sayed Hassan Nasrallah. "There's something you should know about him," they say.

Then they tell how Nasrallah's son was killed fighting against the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon in 1997. They speak with admiration of a stoical Nasrallah who insisted that his son was like any other soldier who died in the battle.

In a region awash in cronyism and corruption, the sacrifice of a son for a nationalistic cause gave the Shiite cleric a deep well of political currency among people from opposing sects and hostile political movements.

As it turns out, it's a currency he may dearly need.

The same Lebanese who thanked Nasrallah for their liberation from Israel might well end up blaming him for provoking a new armed conflict with Israel.

Ever since Hezbollah fighters sought to drive Israel out of Lebanon, from which the Jewish state withdrew in 2000, the Lebanese have nurtured a palpable gratitude to its fighters and to Nasrallah.

Even his political opponents, are careful to temper their complaints with praise for the "resistance" role in purging Lebanon of invaders.

Nasrallah personified Lebanon's debt to Hezbollah, and under his guidance the organisation grew into a political powerhouse.

While insisting that Hezbollah will keep its armed wing, he has steered the organisation to join the government and take on a greater political role. He is now widely considered the most powerful man in Lebanon.

"He's our only statesman," said Amal Sa'ad Ghorayeb, author of Hezbollah: Politics and Religion and a professor at the Lebanese American University. "Whether we respect him or not, if we have one figure in Lebanon who can claim to speak on behalf of Lebanese, it's him."

Nasrallah's life has been marked by flight from political strife from the start. He was born in Beirut in 1970, the eldest of nine children, and was still a teenager when Lebanon's civil war forced the family to seek refuge in the south.

Nasrallah joined a Shiite armed group known as Amal. Nasrallah travelled to Najaf, Iraq, to study as a Shiite scholar. But he was forced from Iraq by a secular government. He returned home and served as a loyal Amal member.

The Israelis invaded in 1982, provoking the foundation of Hezbollah. Nasrallah was a founding member and has headed the organisation since 1992.

Nasrallah lives a life of secrecy in the shadow of assassination threats. His public appearances and interviews are scant. As the fighting erupted between Israel and Hezbollah, however, he has been the most visible face in Lebanon.

"We face two choices, not as Hezbollah, but as Lebanon," he said on Friday. "Either we succumb to the conditions that the Zionists are demanding ... or we remain steadfast and count on God and the holy warriors and the people."