Hizballah (Party of God).
Intro.
The Hizballah is an umbrella organization of a mixture of Shi'ite groups and organizations that believe in a Khomeinistic ideology . It was created and sponsored by Iran in 1982, initially as a form of resistance to the Israeli presence in Southern Lebanon. Hizballah was established as an organizational body for Shi'ite fundamentalists, under the spiritual leadership of Sheikh Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah. .
Near the end of 1982 Iran sent 1,200 fighters from its 'Iranian Revolutionary Guards' in order to assist in the establishment of a revolutionary Islamic movement in Lebanon whose members would participate in the 'Jihad', Holy War, against Israel. These forces, which were located in the area of Ba'albek in the northern Beqa'a valley provided Hizballah fighters with a combination of ideological indoctrination, vast financial support, and military training and equipment. The presence of the Iranians is what transformed the loose network into an organized and highly disciplined movement with a sophisticated guerilla force.
The organization maintains a training apparatus in Lebanon throughout the villages and their surroundings, as well as outside of Lebanon. Training is focused on building a reliable manpower source for its military forces as well as for its terror arm. The current spiritual father of the movement in Lebanon is Sheikh Muhammed Hussein Fadlallah who acts as chief Mujtahid - arbiter of Islamic law - of the Shi'ite community in Lebanon. With the passage of time, Hizballah has turned into an organization of secondary level groups working on the local level led by regional functionaries.
The current Secretary General of Hizballah is Hassan Nasrallah. At the start of the 1980's he was responsible for the Beka'a area on behalf of the AMAL movement.
