MUSSAWI, 'ABBAS AL-

born c. 1952, , an-Nabi Sheet, Lebanon died Feb. 16, 1992, southern Lebanon Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim and secretary-general of the radical Hezbollah (Party of God) movement from May 1991. Mussawi studied Shi'ite theology in an-Najaf, Iraq, where he fell under the influence of fundamentalist Iranian cleric Ruhollah Khomeini. Mussawi returned to Lebanon in 1978, and four years later he helped to form Hezbollah in response to the Khomeini-led Islamic revolution in Iran (1980) and the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon (1982). Although he denied any direct involvement in terrorist activities, many Western observers believed he was responsible for numerous terrorist acts, including the 1983 bombing attacks in which some 300 U.S. and French peacekeeping troops were killed. After he was named secretary-general of Hezbollah, Mussawi publicly denounced such attacks and endorsed a shift to more moderate policies. He was killed, along with his family and bodyguards, when the motorcade in which they were traveling came under rocket attack by Israeli helicopters.