Syrian sites say the Hezbollah leader is still in a Beirut hospital, under medical supervision and care.
By YASSER OKBI/ MAARIV HASHAVUAHezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah addresses his supporters during a rare public appearance in Beirut, November 3(photo credit: REUTERS)
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has suffered a stroke and is being treated at a Beirut hospital, websites affiliated with the Syrian rebels claimed on Tuesday, spawning a maelstrom of rumors.The online reports, which were not independently confirmed by any official source, said the cerebrovascular accident was not serious, and that the Shi'ite group's leader was evacuated to the Al Rasul Al Azam Hospital in Dahye last Thursday.It was not immediately clear if Nasrallah suffered from cardiac arrest or a stroke, but the Syrian sites reported he was still in the southern-Beirut hospital, under medical supervision."Nasrallah has suffered from inadequate health as of late," the rebels said, as the news slowly made the rounds on the Internet, "and has seemed drained -- sweating and reaching for water in recent TV appearances."Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah is a longtime ally of Syria's President Bashar aAssad and has been directly involved in combat in the war-torn country.Hundreds of Hezbollah fighters have aligned themselves with forces loyal to Assad in a four-year civil war that has claimed nearly 200,000 lives and has left millions displaced and homeless.Dozens of Lebanese combatants have been killed in the infighting, including several commanders, in battles that have at times spilled into Lebanon.
