Hizbullah confirms resistance member fired on helicopter
Hizbullah politburo member Mahmoud Qomati confirmed on Monday that it was a 20-year old Hizbullah fighter who opened fire on the Lebanese Armed Forces helicopter last week, killing First Lieutenant Samer Hanna. "The news is true," Qomati told The Daily Star.
Media reports on Monday said a 20-year old Hizbullah fighter, a member of the Moqadem family, shot the helicopter.
The reports added that the suspect was a member of a special combat unit and took part in the fight against Israel during the summer 2006 war.
Hizbullah has reportedly called on its fighters to keep a watchful eye on attempts by Israel to conduct covert operations inside Lebanese territory.
According to the report, the Hizbullah fighter told investigators he thought the helicopter was Israeli as "he did not notice the presence of a Lebanese flag or emblem."
The fighter added that he did not alert his superiors "because he thought he was faced with an Israeli military airdrop."
Hanna, 25, was killed when his helicopter was hit by gunfire on Thursday during a training mission in the Sejod Hills, a region known as a Hizbullah stronghold in South Lebanon.
On Friday, Hizbullah handed the suspect over to the Lebanese judiciary.
On Monday, the Central News Agency (CNA) reported that Hizbullah was intending to send a delegation to Tannourine, Hanna”s hometown, to offer condolences.
However, when contacted by The Daily Star Hizbullah sources said they were unaware of any such plans.
In a statement issued on Friday, the party described the incident as "unfortunate and distressing," adding that it would "fully cooperate with the Lebanese Army and the judiciary to uncover the truth."
In related comments, Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was quoted as saying that no incident could lead to a clash between the LAF and the Shiite group, adding that both Hizbullah and the military were "immunized against strife."
"The army and Hizbullah won”t be dragged into a conflict," the imam of Al-Quds Mosque in Sidon, Sheikh Maher Hammoud, quoted Nasrallah as saying after a three-hour meeting with the Hizbullah chief on Sunday. The remarks were carried by As-Safir newspaper on Monday.
Referring to the attack against the LAF helicopter, Nasrallah was quoted as saying that "tragic incidents should be dealt with objectively, while avoiding misleading speculations and analyses."
The resistance leader also reportedly sought to reassure the Sunni cleric that Iran”s backing of Hizbullah had more of a "religious rather than political nature to it."
The sayyed also denied that either Tehran or Damascus interfered in the decision-making of his group.