Sources to Asharq Al-Awsat: Collective Command Will Lead Hezbollah Until End of War

Head of Hezbollah's political council Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed. (Sayyed's website)
Head of Hezbollah's political council Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed. (Sayyed's website)
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Sources to Asharq Al-Awsat: Collective Command Will Lead Hezbollah Until End of War

Head of Hezbollah's political council Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed. (Sayyed's website)
Head of Hezbollah's political council Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed. (Sayyed's website)

Reports have emerged that Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed, the head of Hezbollah's’ political council, may be named successor to the Iran-backed party’s Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah who was killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs in late September.

Sayyed’s name emerged after the presumed death of Hezbollah executive council leader and potential Nasrallah successor Hashem Safieddine in an Israeli strike on the suburbs on Thursday. Hezbollah has yet to confirm his death.

Informed sources categorically denied that Sayyed was being viewed as a successor.

“No one is currently nominated to succeed Nasrallah,” they said. “The party is now being led collectively.”

In a statement on Saturday, Hezbollah’s media relations office refuted the “false reports and baseless rumors” about the organization of the party, saying such reports were part of a “psychological war against the resistance.”

Hezbollah critic Ali al-Amin ruled out that the party would name a new secretary general given Nasrallah and Safieddine’s fate.

“Any candidate, regardless of who they are, is a candidate for death,” he stressed.

“The party is in a state of confusion and loss and cannot take such a step right now. Naim Qassem is serving as acting secretary general anyway given his role as the party’s deputy leader.”

Who is Sayyed?

Sayyed was born in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa region in 1955. He pursued intense Shiite religious studies before joining Hezbollah in the first years of its formation in the early 1980s.

He helped develop the party’s political and military movement. He rose up the ranks in the group until he became head of its political council where he is responsible for managing Hezbollah’s general policies and communication and relations between Lebanese and international political forces.

According to Amin, Sayyed served as the Amal movement’s envoy to Iran before the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in the 80s. He then joined Hezbollah and read out the party’s statement that announced its official establishment, meaning he was its official spokesman in February 1985.

Sayyed is close to Lebanese MP Jamil al-Sayyed. He was head of Hezbollah's Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary bloc from 1992 to 1996.

Amin remarked: “The fact that Sayyed is approaching 70 years of age doesn’t make him a suitable candidate for the position of secretary general, especially in these circumstances.”

He therefore dismissed reports that he was a possible candidate, adding that Sayyed had been “effectively marginalized and semi-retired for the past 15 years. The only news we hear about him as of late are his visits to the Maronite Patriarchate.”

“Moreover, he is not seen as a core leading member of the party, whose major leaders have been assassinated” by Israel, he noted.



Egypt Strengthens Cooperation with Africa to Tackle Water Challenges

Egypt affirms that water issues are a shared challenge growing more severe due to climate change (Photo by Abdel Fattah Farag)
Egypt affirms that water issues are a shared challenge growing more severe due to climate change (Photo by Abdel Fattah Farag)
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Egypt Strengthens Cooperation with Africa to Tackle Water Challenges

Egypt affirms that water issues are a shared challenge growing more severe due to climate change (Photo by Abdel Fattah Farag)
Egypt affirms that water issues are a shared challenge growing more severe due to climate change (Photo by Abdel Fattah Farag)

Egypt is continuing to strengthen its cooperation with African nations to confront the pressing challenges of water and food security.

“Water issues are a shared challenge that grows more severe due to climate change and resource scarcity, especially given Egypt’s near-total dependence on Nile water,” Egyptian Minister of Irrigation Hani Sewilam said, according to an official statement by the Egyptian Cabinet on Friday.

Speaking on behalf of the Prime Minister during a celebration at the Djibouti Embassy in Cairo marking Djibouti’s 48th independence anniversary, Sewilam emphasized that cross-border cooperation, rooted in principles of international law, is the optimal path to ensure sustainable water resources.

Egypt frequently raises the issue of water security, particularly amid the ongoing crisis over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which Ethiopia has built on the main tributary of the Nile since 2011 to generate electricity. Egypt and Sudan fear it will impact their water shares.

Ambassador Salah Halima, former Assistant Foreign Minister and Deputy Chairman of the Egyptian Council for African Affairs, stressed that water security is closely linked to river management and dam operations. He told Asharq Al-Awsat that Egypt consistently underscores the importance of respecting international laws and agreements on managing water resources and criticized Ethiopia’s unilateral actions to impose a de facto situation regarding the dam.

Halima added that achieving water security requires cooperation among states in managing water resources and constructing dams, noting that Egypt has valuable experience African nations can benefit from.

Egypt faces a water deficit estimated at 30 billion cubic meters annually. Its share of Nile water amounts to 55.5 billion cubic meters per year, while consumption exceeds 85 billion cubic meters. The shortfall is covered by groundwater extraction, seawater desalination projects, and recycling agricultural drainage water, according to the Ministry of Irrigation.

On Friday, Sewilam highlighted the longstanding ties between Egypt and Djibouti as an example of cooperation amid complex regional and global challenges requiring greater unity and shared vision. He noted that the regional and international context demands an understanding of the magnitude of challenges, ranging from security and peace to sustainable development and socio-economic stability, especially in the Arab and African regions.

Egypt is finalizing a memorandum of understanding with Djibouti’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources to cooperate in fields such as integrated water resources management, desalination technologies, groundwater recharge, capacity building, knowledge exchange, and joint research.

In parallel, Egyptian Minister of Agriculture Alaa Farouk reaffirmed Egypt’s commitment to working with African countries to develop more efficient, inclusive, and sustainable agricultural value chains. Speaking during FAO meetings in Rome, he said that strengthening these chains is central to food security, economic growth, and job creation, particularly in rural areas. Farouk also discussed promoting Egyptian investment in Africa to boost agricultural development and food security across the continent.