Hezbollah leader threatens to attack Israel outside Lebanon

Hezbollah leader threatens to attack Israel outside Lebanon
 

Hezbollah’s leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, told 10,000 mourners on Thursday at the funeral of a senior commander killed in Syria that Hezbollah was ready to retaliate “anywhere” against Israel, which it blames for the death.

 
Many political observers in Beirut are of the opinion that Syria collaborated with Israel in executing this assassination, “because nothing like this can happen in Syria without the knowledge of the Syrian regime “ one observer told Ya Libnan.

 

No one so far has claimed responsibility for killing the commander, Imad Mugniyah, one of the most wanted and elusive terrorists in the world, and Israel has distanced itself from any involvement. On Thursday, Israel ordered its military and embassies to heighten security.

 

In one of his most belligerent speeches in several months, shown on a television screen in the hall where the mourners had gathered around the coffin of Mr. Mugniyah, Sheik Nasrallah said Israel had taken the war with Hezbollah outside of Lebanon, and Hezbollah was now prepared to pursue it outside as well.

 

“Today Hezbollah and the Islamic Resistance are ready to confront any Israeli aggression in Lebanon,” he said. “You killed outside the battleground. Our battle was inside the Lebanese territory. You crossed the borders. Zionists, if you wanted open war, let it be an open war anywhere.”

 

At the funeral, in southern Beirut, mourners packed the hall and waited outside in the rain.

 

Inside, four Hezbollah guards in black stood beside the coffin, which was wrapped in their militant Shiite group’s yellow colors.

 

Mr. Mugniyah was killed in Damascus on Tuesday night when a bomb detonated under the vehicle he was in. His remains were brought by car to Beirut on Wednesday, drawing people to the hall, where hundreds paraded past the coffin, many taking photographs with mobile phones.

 

The funeral coincided with a separate rally attended by thousands in central Beirut to mark the third anniversary of the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

 

The Western-backed March 14 coalition, led by Mr. Hariri’s son Saad, had called for huge demonstrations, which many Lebanese feared could lead to confrontations with Hezbollah.

 

Lebanon has been in a political deadlock because of a longstanding dispute between the Western-backed government and the Hezbollah-led opposition, supported by Iran and Syria.

 

Many people in the rally for Mr. Hariri said they would not be intimidated by Hezbollah. “The crisis could be solved through politics,” said Kamil Haygar, 26, who was at the pro-Hariri rally in Martyr Square. “But if it is not, we are going to do what we have to do even if it is going war, and if it is what our leaders want us to do, then we are ready to go to war.”

Picture:Lebanon”s Hezbollah”s chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah speaks through al Manar television during the funeral of assassinated commander Imad Moughniyah in Beirut”s suburbs February 14, 2008. Nasrallah on Thursday threatened Israel with “open war” after accusing the Jewish state of killing Moughniyah.
REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON)