Hizballah, the Shi'ite Muslim Party of God, arrived publicly on the Middle East scene a decade ago in a hail of gunfire: young fighters, armed with grenades and shouting "Allahu Akbar!" captured an invading Israeli armored personnel carrier near Beirut in June 1982 and paraded it through the city. They took their name from a verse in the Koran, "Lo, the Party of God, they are victorious," and their money, weapons and inspiration from fundamentalist sponsors in Tehran.
Throughout the 1980s, Hizballah had a dark reputation; it was notorious for seizing Western hostages, setting off car bombs and nurturing groups like...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
