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Famous diva's 'fondness' for Nasrallah stirs controversy

Lebanese artist, musician and playwright Ziad Rahbani stirred controversy when he said in an interview that his mother, the acclaimed Lebanese diva Fairouz, was ‘fond’ of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Lebanese diva Fairuz performs at Lebanon's new state-of-art Platea theatre in Sahel Alma north of the capital Beirut on December 9, 2011. The 77-year-old singer began her career in the early 1950s and became an icon across the Arab  world with hundreds of songs mainly written by the Rahbani Brothers and later her son Ziad Rahbani. AFP PHOTO/ANWAR AMRO (Photo credit should read ANWAR AMRO/AFP/Getty Images)
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Amid all its political, security and economic concerns, Lebanon has now become the scene of an odd, heated debate involving Fairouz, Lebanon’s most famous singer, and Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. It's such a hot topic that leading politicians and various officials have felt compelled to chime in. 

It almost goes without saying that anything related to Nasrallah or Hezbollah is cause for uproar in Lebanon these days. The conflict between his supporters and detractors has deep roots that even extend beyond Lebanon’s borders. The division is ubiquitous, touching on every aspect of daily life, everywhere. Yet, this does not explain the clamor that erupted around a statement attributed to Mrs. Fairouz, as the Lebanese and most Arabs call her, about Nasrallah.

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