SYRIA/LEBANON/FILE: Hezbollah commander Imad Moughniyah killed by a bomb attack in Damascus

Record ID: 278588

  • Title: SYRIA/LEBANON/FILE: Hezbollah commander Imad Moughniyah killed by a bomb attack in Damascus
  • Date: 13th February 2008
  • Summary: CARS DRIVING PAST
  • Embargoed: 28th February 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVA4EJM99NW8IKA39BWA82LFRPNT
  • Story Text: Hezbollah leader Imad Moughniyah, on the United States' most wanted list for attacks on Israeli and Western targets, was killed by a bomb in Damascus, the Lebanese group said on Wednesday (February 13).
    Hezbollah swiftly accused Israel of assassinating Moughniyah, who was head of the Hezbollah security network during Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war. In Gaza, Hamas Islamists called for the Arab world to unite against Israel.
    Israel denied any involvement in the killing, seen as a blow to Syrian-backed Hezbollah that fought a 34-day war with Israel in 2006.
    Mourners lined up to pay their respects to Hezbollah officials and Moughniyah's father, Fayez Moughniyah in a mosque in Beirut's southern suburb.
    Moughniyah, 45, was killed late on Tuesday (February 12) by a bomb planted in his car. He had long been on a list of foreigners Israel wanted to kill or apprehend and the United States had offered a reward for his capture.
    Meanwhile in Moughniyah's hometown, Tair Debba, mourners gathered at the mosque and at his family home to pay their respects.
    ''This is Israel, from beginning to end, it will never change. They are vampires. What do you expect of the Israelis and it's agents that are around,'' Hussein Moughniyah, Imad Moughniyah's cousin said.
    Beirut residents said Moughniyah's death was a huge loss but that the resistance against Israel would continue.
    ''Killing the leader Imad Moughniyah is a huge blow for the resistance and for the Shiites but the resistance will not be weakened and we will continue even stronger than before,'' Ahmad Fakih said.
    ''The assassination of Imad Moughniyah is a huge loss for us, but we will continue as a resistance. This is a blow for the Shiites," another resident said.
    Moughniyah was implicated in the 1983 bombings of the U.S. embassy and U.S. Marine and French peacekeeping barracks in Beirut, which killed over 350 people, as well as the 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires and the kidnapping of Westerners in Lebanon in the 1980s.
    The United States indicted him for his role in planning and participating in the June 14, 1985, hijacking of a U.S. TWA airliner and the killing of an American passenger.
    Hezbollah, a group backed by Syria and Iran, announced the assassination and called followers to his funeral on Thursday (February 14).
    Hezbollah fought a 34-day war in 2006 with the Jewish state. The war was triggered by a Hezbollah cross-border raid in which two Israeli soldiers were captured. According to Israeli intelligence assessments, Moughniyah was involved in masterminding the operation.
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