Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

248 • HEZBOLLAHbelieved to have been established and headed by Imad Mughniyah,and is involved in intelligence gathering as well as criminal entrepreneurialactivities, such as smuggling, in order to raise funds for Hezbollahas well as to penetrate other nations by developing links bothto criminal and other terrorist groups abroad. After Imad Mughniyahwas assassinated on 12 February 2008 by unknown individuals, hewas succeeded by Jamil al-Haj Saleh, who himself was assassinatedon 25 August 2008, also by unknown actors.In addition to its military activities, Hezbollah has promoted itselfas a major social and political actor within Lebanon. In the 2005Lebanese National Assembly elections, Hezbollah won 14 seats ofthe 128-seat legislature. Together with 17 elected members of Amal,two members of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, and two independents,Hezbollah’s delegates became part of the 35-memberResistance and Development Bloc forming the second-largest multipartycoalition in the parliament. Since those elections, Hezbollah hasbeen demanding that the share of cabinet positions of the Resistanceand Development Bloc, which it dominates, be expanded in a new“unity government” to give it effective veto powers over the majoritygovernment formed by a coalition of Christian, Sunni Muslim,and Druze parties opposed both to Syrian influence in Lebanon aswell as to Hezbollah. Beginning in December 2006, Hezbollah beganto pressure the Siniora government with mass protests and terroristattacks. On 12 December 2006 a bombing in the Christian enclaveof Baabda, east of Beirut, killed four and injured dozens of others,including General Francois al-Hajj, the Lebanese army’s chief ofoperations. On 15 January 2007 Hezbollah attempted to bomb aU.S. embassy motor vehicle. On 25 January 2007 a bombing in theEast Beirut suburb of Hamzieh-Chevrolet killed Captain WissamMahmud Eid, a Sunni intelligence official in the Internal SecurityForces responsible for monitoring Hezbollah’s activities, who wasinvestigating the attempted bombing of the U.S. embassy car.On 2 April 2008 Hezbollah formed a coalition with the Syrian SocialNationalist Party and the Lebanese Ba’athist Party to force PrimeMinister Fouad Siniora, who was also the acting president of Lebanonsince July 2005, to allow the election of a new president and a newcabinet to create the so-called unity government giving Hezbollahand its allies effective veto powers over the parliamentary majority.Hezbollah was also seeking to recruit the support of Sunni clergymen