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Exclusive: I Saw Nasrallah in Qusair

The Hezbollah secretary-general’s mysterious visit to Qusair may not have been his first.
Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is projected on a screen during a live broadcast as he speaks to his supporters at an event marking the 25th anniversary of the establishment of Al-Nour radio station, which is operated by the Hezbollah in Beirut, May 9, 2013. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS MEDIA ANNIVERSARY) - RTXZGEC
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Just days after the fall of Qusair in southwest Syria, the city started receiving visitors. Some were returning residents looking for what was left of their homes and properties, while others were only passersby who wanted to see what had happened to the city. There was a third category: probably Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah fits in.

It was my last day in Qusair, and the security measures taken there weren’t as restrictive as in the previous days. When I asked, the only answer I received was that every day there are new orders. “Probably the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will pay a visit to the city, a visit similar to the one he paid to Baba Amr in Homs after the regime took control of it,” a colleague of mine suggested but never confirmed. Later, a Syrian officer told us that a high-profile Syrian official (not Assad) will arrive soon in Qusair.

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