Berri on Nasrallah's death: ‘I lost a part of myself'

BEIRUT — Amal Movement MP Ali Hassan Khalil, right-hand man of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, told al-Mayadeen on Wednesday that when Berri learned of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's killing, he reaction was to say that he'd "lost a part" of himself. During the interview, Khalil reflected on several elements of the decades-long relationship between Nasrallah and Berri, who were allies and friends.

The day of Hassan Nasrallah’s assassination

On Sept. 27, the Israeli airforce unleashed dozens of 2,000-pound bunker-buster bombs on the densely populated southern suburbs of Beirut, killing Nasrallah and a still-unknown number of civilians. That day, Khalil was at Ain al-Tineh, Berri's residence, where the impact of the bombing targeting Nasrallah rumbled through like a "strong earthquake."

Khalil was still with Berri when news of Nasrallah's death reached him. "First, he took a moment of silence, sitting behind his desk," Khalil described. "He lowered his head, visibly upset, struggling to breathe and seeming on the verge of tears." Khalil said he and those in the room with him decided to leave Berri process the news alone. Five minutes later, Berri broke the silence, saying: "We lost a part of ourselves. I lost a part of myself. I don’t know how I will adapt to it."

The alliance between the two men goes back to the 1990s, built on a "common" vision, Khalil says. The alliance was only reinforced over time, becoming a unique synergy that was core to the collaboration between their respective parties, the Amal Movement and Hezbollah.

A decisive meeting

Up until 1992, when Nasrallah became head of Hezbollah and Berri head of Parliament, the two men had not yet established a "direct relationship," Khalil explains. They had crossed paths several times in Beirut and in Tehran as well as at the funeral for former Hezbollah leader Abbas al-Musawi, who himself was assassinated in an Israeli raid in southern Lebanon in 1992, and who Nasrallah replaced at the head of the party.

Khalil remembers the first face-to-face meeting between Berri and Nasrallah. It took place in March 1992; Nasrallah a few weeks into new appointment as Hezbollah leader. "This meeting broke many barriers, as the tense relations between Hezbollah and Amal required a new impulse," Khalil said. The two parties were often at odds with each other during the tail end of the Civil War, in some cases fighting bloody battles over control of Beirut.

Hassan Nasrallah’s ‘big brother’

According to Khalil, Nasrallah made a real impression during his first meetings with Berri, despite his being only 32 years old at the time. "Impressed by his confidence and political vision," Berri immediately saw more Nasrallah as than just a party leader. He saw him as a "key player" capable of "consolidating" the various commonalities between Amal and Hezbollah, which would in turn strengthen the political position of the Shia community and, beyond even that, preserve the balance of the national partnership.

The men then met almost regularly from then until 2006, when Hezbollah fought Israel, eventually pushing it out of the South. Up until that year, Nasrallah was able to enjoy more freedom of movement and the two "frequently visited each other, without protocol or formality," Khalil said, describing the meetings as taking place in "ordinary places, on accessible floors, never in a basement."

While the last official meeting between the two leaders dates back at least three years, their communication "was never broken." According to Khalil, Nasrallah called Berri his "big brother."

Mediation between Amal and Michel Aoun

Khalil also recalled a "fundamental" conversation during which Nasrallah mediated between Berri and former President Michel Aoun, regarding the 2016 election. Nasrallah managed, during the encounter, to break "any barrier between them."

Concerning Nasrallah’s relationship with the former leader of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), Walid Joumblatt, Khalil emphasized that despite their significant differences, the Hezbollah leader always respected Joumblatt, and that "even during the most tense periods, Nasrallah insisted on the importance of maintaining good ties with him."