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| Bomb kills top Hezbollah leader | |
| (30 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. | 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. |
| Israel denied any role in the killing although a number of Israeli political figures welcomed news of his death. | |
| Mughniyeh is variously described as special operations or intelligence chief of 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. | 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. | 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. | |
| 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. |
| It has emerged in recent years as a major political and military force in Lebanon, after military successes against Israel. | It 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. | 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 two years later that killed 95. | |
| The Israeli government, which has been accused of a series of assassinations of its enemies in various countries over the years, denied killing Mughniyeh. | |
| "Israel rejects the attempts of terror elements to attribute to Israel any involvement in this incident," Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said in a statement. | |
| But MP Danny Yatom called the killing "a big achievement for the free world against terrorist organisations." |