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BBC: Syria 'to name Mughniyeh killer'
BBC ^ | Friday, 15 February 2008, 13:39 GMT | BBC Staff

Posted on 02/15/2008 7:34:09 AM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach

Syria 'to name Mughniyeh killer'

Mobile phone video footage of the blast (al-Alam TV)

Iranian TV said a booby-trapped car had exploded next to Mughniyeh's

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.

The fighter Imad Mughniyeh was the target of lots of intelligence agencies - he was a backbone of the Islamic resistance

Walid al-Moualem
Syrian Foreign Minister


"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.

IMAD MUGHNIYEH

Undated photograph of Imad Mughniyeh released by Hezbollah

Born southern Lebanon 1962

Indicted for 1985 hijack of TWA airliner

Accused of involvement in 1990s Buenos Aires bombings

On FBI Most Wanted list since 2001


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.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah 14/2/08
Nasrallah blamed Israel for Imad Mughniyeh's assassination

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.




TOPICS: Breaking News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: hezbollah; iran; iraq; israel; jordan; mughniyeh; mugniah; mugnieh; syria
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

We need to know who to give the Medal of Honor to. One less cockroach.

Pray for W and Our Troops


41 posted on 02/15/2008 8:17:04 AM PST by bray (Go InSain)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

42 posted on 02/15/2008 8:21:45 AM PST by Lancey Howard
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To: r9etb
They won't name Israel, unless they're already planning to go to war with Israel.

Syria is at war with Israel. They're just using proxies to conduct it.

The rest of your theory is fairly sound, though.

L

43 posted on 02/15/2008 8:23:08 AM PST by Lurker (Pimping my blog: http://lurkerslair-lurker.blogspot.com/)
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To: jveritas
Under President Bush, Mughniyeh mysteriously dies in a bombing that shows Assad’s impotence. Under Clinton or Obama, Assad and Mughniyeh continue to run rampant. Hillary’s foreign policy adviser, and Jimmy Carter’s, Zbigniew Brzezinski, was in Syria buttering up Assad when this happened! This speaks volumes about why an Obama or a Hillary presidency is a threat to America and why we will need to support McCain even if he isn’t the best or most conservative conservative.
44 posted on 02/15/2008 8:27:50 AM PST by elhombrelibre (Al Qaeda: enemy of civilization and humanity.)
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To: Lancey Howard

Quiet Pride,,....Nice Job.


45 posted on 02/15/2008 8:28:18 AM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach (No Burkas for my Grandaughters!)
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To: elhombrelibre

Zbigniew Brzezinski is Obama’s FP advisor.

China is Hillary’s FP advisor.


46 posted on 02/15/2008 8:29:53 AM PST by txhurl
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To: OB1kNOb

No one is better at taking out the trash than Israel.


47 posted on 02/15/2008 8:32:54 AM PST by cowdog77 (Circle the Wagons)
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To: txflake

Thanks for the correction. And I know you’re right, and I got confussed.


48 posted on 02/15/2008 8:33:07 AM PST by elhombrelibre (Al Qaeda: enemy of civilization and humanity.)
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To: 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.

"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...

49 posted on 02/15/2008 8:33:21 AM PST by The Electrician ("Government is the only enterprise in the world which expands in size when its failures increase.")
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
"Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem would not discuss the ongoing investigation, but insisted the world would "soon hear the results of this mighty effort".

Oh, I'm breathlessly waiting.

Good riddance of this POS!

50 posted on 02/15/2008 8:33:28 AM PST by blam (Secure the border and enforce the law)
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To: Kerretarded

I’ve read that...fascinating.


51 posted on 02/15/2008 8:34:00 AM PST by cowdog77 (Circle the Wagons)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

It’s Bush’s fault.


52 posted on 02/15/2008 8:36:10 AM PST by ThomasThomas ( John McCain a true BLUE conservative)
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To: Lurker
Syria is at war with Israel. They're just using proxies to conduct it.

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.

53 posted on 02/15/2008 8:36:36 AM PST by r9etb
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Now I’ll know who’s name to put on my thank-you card.


54 posted on 02/15/2008 8:54:59 AM PST by Mad_Tom_Rackham ("The land of the Free...Because of the Brave")
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Comment #55 Removed by Moderator

To: Mach5
There’s a train of thought in another FR thread that the Iranians did it to cover up their involvement with 9/11 - through Mughniyeh.

That is hardly likely. Mughniyeh has been living and working in Iran for years before and after 9-11.

56 posted on 02/15/2008 9:01:06 AM PST by Mad_Tom_Rackham ("The land of the Free...Because of the Brave")
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
It was chafed wires in the center fuel tank!
57 posted on 02/15/2008 9:03:02 AM PST by Dead Dog (Classic Liberalism..AT ALL COSTS)
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To: elhombrelibre

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.


58 posted on 02/15/2008 9:05:31 AM PST by Mad_Tom_Rackham ("The land of the Free...Because of the Brave")
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To: ASA Vet

Let’s hope its soon. This vermin needs to go meet Allah. Its time to meet your 72 Virgins.


59 posted on 02/15/2008 9:08:03 AM PST by ncfool (Savage said that Islam is a Peaceful religion. Your very peaceful after they slit your throat!)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

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....???


60 posted on 02/15/2008 9:09:13 AM PST by blasater1960 ( Dt 30, Ps 111, The Law is perfect, attainable, now and forever)
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