BEIRUT, Feb 14: Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday threatened Israel with “open war”, accusing the Jewish state of killing a top commander who was among the United States’ most wanted men.
“Zionists, if you want this type of open war then let the whole world hear: let it be an open war,” Nasrallah told mourners at the funeral of Imad Moughniyah, a legend to Hezbollah but one of the men most wanted by Israel and the United States for planning attacks that killed hundreds.
Moughniyah, hunted by Israel and the United States for two decades, was killed by a bomb in Damascus on Tuesday.
Hezbollah and its main backer Iran accused Israel of killing him. Israel rejected the charge, though its Mossad spy service had long sought to kill him.
“We have the right, like all human beings, of self-defence and, God willing, we will do whatever is required to defend our brothers, leaders, people and our country,” Nasrallah said, addressing the mass funeral via video link.
He said the group’s initial investigation into the killing showed that Israel was behind it. Nasrallah gave no details but said it was an attack outside the “natural battleground” — both sides of the Lebanon-Israel border.
Nasrallah said that while the assassination was a painful blow, it would not weaken Hezbollah or its military structure. A visibly emotional Nasrallah said Moughniyah had played a major role in Hezbollah’s 34-day war against Israel in 2006.
Naim Kassem, Nasrallah’s deputy, lead prayers over Moughniyah’s coffin, flanked by other members of Hezbollah’s leadership, at a mosque in Beirut’s southern suburb.
Pallbearers in military uniform carried the casket, draped in Hezbollah’s yellow flag, into the street for a funeral procession attended by tens of thousands of men and women and led by a military band.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki attended the funeral and read a condolence note from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
HARIRI ANNIVERSARY: Reflecting deep divisions in Lebanon, Moughniyah’s funeral took place shortly after a rally by the anti-Syrian ruling coalition to mark the third anniversary of the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.
A large crowd waving red, white and green Lebanese flags, gathered in pouring rain at Martyrs’ Square in the centre of Beirut for speeches by anti-Syrian leaders, including Hariri’s son and political heir, Saad.
Hariri said his hand was extended to the Syria-backed opposition to end 15 months of conflict that has deepened communal divisions and left the country without a president since November.
Nasrallah responded: “When we see that the extended hand is sincere, it will only be met by an extended hand.”
Hariri’s assassination on Feb 14, 2005, plunged Lebanon into its worst crisis since the 1975-90 civil war and led to the withdrawal of Syrian forces from the country. Anti-Syrian politicians blame Damascus for his death. Syria denies any role.
Moughniyah was the most senior member of Hezbollah to be killed since its previous secretary-general, Abbas Mussawi, died in a 1992 Israeli helicopter ambush in southern Lebanon.—Reuters
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