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| 'Bomb kills' top Hezbollah leader | |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Lebanese group Hezbollah says one of its top leaders, Imad Mughniyeh, has died in a bombing in Damascus, and has blamed Israel for assassinating him. | |
| Mughniyeh is widely believed to be behind a wave of Western hostage-taking in Lebanon in the 1980s. | Mughniyeh is widely believed to be behind a wave of Western hostage-taking in Lebanon in the 1980s. |
| Correspondents say he had been in hiding for years and was high on US and Israeli wanted lists. | Correspondents say he had been in hiding for years and was high on US and Israeli wanted lists. |
| There has been not been any word about the incident from either the Syrian or Israeli governments. | There has been not been any word about the incident from either the Syrian or Israeli governments. |
| Mughniyeh is variously described as special operations and intelligence chief of the Hezbollah's secretive military wing. | Mughniyeh is variously described as special operations and intelligence chief of the Hezbollah's secretive military wing. |
| Correspondents say his death is a significant blow to Hezbollah, which battled Israel in the 2006 Lebanon war, and its Iranian and Syrian backers. | Correspondents say his death is a significant blow to Hezbollah, which battled Israel in the 2006 Lebanon war, and its Iranian and Syrian backers. |
| Neighbourhood in shock | Neighbourhood in shock |
| Syrian police kept media and other onlookers well away from the scene of the overnight blast in the well-to-do Kafar Soussa district. | |
| With all pride we declare a great jihadist leader of the Islamic resistance in Lebanon joining the martyrs Hezbollah's Manar TV Hours later, Syrian state TV confirmed one person had been killed in a car bombing, but did not identify the victim. | |
| "Scores of police and intelligence officers rushed to the site. People in the neighbourhood are shocked," said one resident quoted by Reuters news agency. | "Scores of police and intelligence officers rushed to the site. People in the neighbourhood are shocked," said one resident quoted by Reuters news agency. |
| "We saw security officers hauling the body away," said one witness quoted by Reuters news agency. | "We saw security officers hauling the body away," said one witness quoted by Reuters news agency. |
| Hezbollah-owned Manar TV in Beirut announced the death saying: "With all pride we declare a great jihadist leader of the Islamic resistance in Lebanon joining the martyrs... the brother commander hajj Imad Mughniyeh". | Hezbollah-owned Manar TV in Beirut announced the death saying: "With all pride we declare a great jihadist leader of the Islamic resistance in Lebanon joining the martyrs... the brother commander hajj Imad Mughniyeh". |
| The group said a funeral service would be held on Thursday. | The group said a funeral service would be held on Thursday. |
| Beirut has been tense ahead of a mass rally on the same day to commemorate three years since the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. | Beirut has been tense ahead of a mass rally on the same day to commemorate three years since the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. |
| There have been repeated clashes between supporters of the pro-Western government and the opposition which includes Hezbollah. | There have been repeated clashes between supporters of the pro-Western government and the opposition which includes Hezbollah. |
| High-profile attacks | High-profile attacks |
| Hezbollah was founded in 1982 by a group of Shia Muslim clerics after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. | Hezbollah was founded in 1982 by a group of Shia Muslim clerics after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. |
| Early Hezbollah members may have bombed foreign forces out of LebanonIt has emerged in recent years as a major political and military force in Lebanon, after military successes against Israel. | |
| Shia militants who went on to become members are thought to have planned some of the most high-profile kidnappings and attacks of the 1980s, including the 1983 suicide bombings in Beirut that killed hundreds of US and French service personnel. | |
| Mughniyeh was among several suspects indicted in the US for the 1985 hijacking of a TWA airliner in which a US Navy diver was killed. | Mughniyeh was among several suspects indicted in the US for the 1985 hijacking of a TWA airliner in which a US Navy diver was killed. |
| Israel believes he was involved in planning the 1992 bombing of Israel's embassy in Argentina in which 29 people were killed and the blast at a Buenos Aires Jewish centre in 1994 two years later that killed 95. | Israel believes he was involved in planning the 1992 bombing of Israel's embassy in Argentina in which 29 people were killed and the blast at a Buenos Aires Jewish centre in 1994 two years later that killed 95. |
| Israeli MP Danny Yatom, who is a former head of intelligence service Mossad called him a "dangerous and cruel terrorists among the terrorists". | Israeli MP Danny Yatom, who is a former head of intelligence service Mossad called him a "dangerous and cruel terrorists among the terrorists". |
| "His execution is a big achievement for the free world against terrorist organisations and through this action we'll know that none of the terrorists is immune," Mr Yatom said in a personal statement without official backing. | "His execution is a big achievement for the free world against terrorist organisations and through this action we'll know that none of the terrorists is immune," Mr Yatom said in a personal statement without official backing. |