Hizbullah's Ibrahim Amin As-Sayyid

This man (one of the leaders of Hizbullah and a former MP) appeared on TV this week because he is a cousin of one of the released generals, Jamil As-Sayyid. I met Shyakh Ibrahim As-Sayyid (who used to go by the name of Shaykh Ibrahim Al-Amin) back around 1986 or 1987 when he was secretary-general of Hizbullah during its horrific phase--as I call it. I took an immediate dislike of the man and I still harbor this dislike for him. I was just trying to understand and study the party as it first emerged and I met him for several hours in some non-descript building in the southern suburbs. I found him so arrogant and so annoying and so obnoxious that it was hard for me to conceal my reaction. I would ask him about his background and he would say that he could not answer me for "security reasons"--and I am talking about simple questions about his educational backgrounds and significant books that he had read or had not read and so on. I would ask him about lessons from the Lebanese National Movement's experience and he would be too arrogant to admit learning from anything. I remember leaving the interview knowing about an arrogant and obnoxious man what I knew not before. He now does not hold a leading position within the party but he yells when he delivers a speech. He also is one of those Sunni and Shi`ite clerics who does not believe that a cleric should ever smile. I remember I once asked Hasan Nasrallah why Middle East clerics refuse to smile or laugh: he laughed.