Hassan Nasrallah, superstar in Nigeria

Sophie Team Observers — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 12:16:53 +0200

These photos were taken during a Shia procession in the north of Nigeria last summer. Showing the glorification of Hezbollah and the Islamic revolution, the images suggest a shift towards the extreme in Islamic support in Sub-Saharan Africa

The photos were circulated through the Lebanese expat community by email and were then printed by the Middle East Times, who admitted to not knowing where they came from. We contacted one of our Nigeria-specialised Observers, who helped us to track the photos and put them into context. We found out that they were taken on 30 August last year in the Northern city of Zaria. The marchers were commemorating the death of Mehdi, a central figure in the history of Islam.

Lebanese pols battle it out online. But Hezbollah's honcho is not in sight.

Julien — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 13:03:51 +0100

Material compiled by Marc Daou, our regional editor for the Middle East

'Douma Game,’ a street-combat game, was launched online shortly before President Emile Lahoud quit office following his Nov. 23 term expiration. (the election of his successor had been postponed six times). Inspired by the famous PlayStation game, ‘Tekken’, Douma Game feaures Lebanese politicians of all stripes locked in a battle for survival. One notable omission though, is Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who escapes the call to the boxing ring. For good reason, it seems. The last time he was caricatured on television, there were riots in Beirut. So Douma Game's creator was careful about representing the pro-Iranian party, using one of Nasrallah’s deputies, Hussein Hajj Hassan, instead. Alas, Lebanese bloggers hardly had time to test the game, as it was stripped off-line by its own creator, officially for ‘legal reasons’.