Posted on 02/15/2008 7:34:09 AM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Syria has said it will soon present "irrefutable" proof of who was behind the killing of Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh in the capital, Damascus. Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem would not discuss the ongoing investigation, but insisted the world would "soon hear the results of this mighty effort".
Meanwhile, Iranian TV has broadcast a video reportedly of Tuesday's bombing. On Thursday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah blamed Israel for the blast and warned it was ready for "open war". Israel has rejected the claims, but nonetheless has put its embassies around the world on high alert and boosted troop deployments on the Lebanese border. 'Secret investigation' Speaking after meeting his Iranian counterpart in Damascus, Mr Moualem said the Syrian security services had devoted huge resources to their investigation into "this despicable crime" and would soon unmask the killer.
"As a state, we will irrefutably prove the party involved in this crime and who stands behind it. An investigation is ongoing," he told reporters on Thursday. "We hope that you will soon hear the results of this mighty effort." Mr Moualem declined to say whether the security forces had detained anyone in connection with the attack or name the chief suspects.
"I cannot comment to preserve the secrecy of the investigation," he said. "The fighter Imad Mughniyeh was the target of lots of intelligence agencies. He was a backbone of the Islamic resistance." Nevertheless, Mr Moualem asserted Mughniyeh's death had "assassinated all efforts for peace" between Syria and Israel.
The two countries remain technically at war and tensions between them have risen in recent months, with Israeli jets violating Syrian airspace and the government demanding Damascus abandon its support for Hezbollah.
The Iranian Foreign Minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, was, however, adamant that Israel lay behind Tuesday's bombing. "The Zionist entity will not harvest the fruit," he warned. On Friday morning, the Iranian Arabic-language TV channel, al-Alam, broadcast what it said was footage taken with a mobile phone of the bombing. The report claimed the video showed the explosion of a booby-trapped car parked next to Mughniyeh's vehicle. It said the bomb was detonated by remote control. 'Open war' Mr Moualem's comments came hours after Sheikh Nasrallah blamed Israel for his death and said its war against the Jewish state was not over. "Zionists, if you want this sort of open war, then let the whole world hear, so be it!" he told crowds of mourners at Mughniyeh's funeral in Beirut.
Sheikh Nasrallah said that Israel thought that killing "would lead to the destruction of the resistance... but they are wrong". "The blood of Imad Mughniyeh will make them [Israel] withdraw from existence," he insisted. Mughniyeh, in his late 40s, had been variously described as special operations or intelligence chief of Hezbollah's secretive military wing, the Islamic Resistance. He was top of the US "most wanted" list until he was replaced by Osama Bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders following the 11 September 2001 attacks. Analysts say his death is a significant blow to Hezbollah, which battled Israel in the 2006 Lebanon war with help from its Iranian and Syrian backers. Hezbollah was founded in 1982 by a group of Shia Muslim clerics after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. It has emerged in recent years as a major political and military force in Lebanon, after military successes against Israel.
|
We need to know who to give the Medal of Honor to. One less cockroach.
Pray for W and Our Troops
Syria is at war with Israel. They're just using proxies to conduct it.
The rest of your theory is fairly sound, though.
L
Quiet Pride,,....Nice Job.
Zbigniew Brzezinski is Obama’s FP advisor.
China is Hillary’s FP advisor.
No one is better at taking out the trash than Israel.
Thanks for the correction. And I know you’re right, and I got confussed.
"And as soon as we have fabricated and planted the evidence, and have coerced written confessions out of several "fall-guy" collaborators who will already have been executed, we will share that proof with the world", he went on to say...
Oh, I'm breathlessly waiting.
Good riddance of this POS!
I’ve read that...fascinating.
It’s Bush’s fault.
What I meant was, Syria going directly to war with Israel ... no proxies.
My rationale is that if Syria blamed Israel outright, and then to did nothing about it ... the effect would be to further weaken the Bashir Assad's hold on power, and he can't afford that. So they won't name Israel directly -- they'll name some proxy group they can claim is funded by Israel or the US.
Now I’ll know who’s name to put on my thank-you card.
That is hardly likely. Mughniyeh has been living and working in Iran for years before and after 9-11.
We sould announce that, if Israel were attacked by any neighboring country, we will give them all the military hardware they ask for in order to retaliate.
Let’s hope its soon. This vermin needs to go meet Allah. Its time to meet your 72 Virgins.
Some have speculated that he either died of natural causes first and he was made look like a martyr or even that he may still be alive....???
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.