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Last update - 11:03 30/08/2008
Hezbollah surrenders gunman who mistook Lebanese chopper for that of IDF
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent, and The Associated Press
Tags: Hezbollah, Lebanon, Israel

Hezbollah on Friday handed over a man suspected of firing on a Lebanese army helicopter a day earlier that killed a navigator, the militant group said.

Hezbollah downed a Lebanese Army helicopter on Thursday in what Israeli officials believe was a case of mistaken identity: The Shi'ite militiamen apparently thought they were firing at an Israeli chopper.

The incident occurred as the helicopter flew over an area of southern Lebanon known to be a Hezbollah stronghold. The attack killed a navigator and forced the aircraft to make an emergency landing, Lebanese officials said.
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Hezbollah described Thursday's shooting as "very unfortunate and painful," but some media reports claimed the Shiite militant group had mistakenly opened fire on the helicopter.

Details about the incident were sketchy, as the military quickly sealed off the area. But a Lebanese Army statement said the helicopter was on a training mission when it came under fire from armed elements and was forced down in the highlands of the Iqlim al-Tuffah province. The helicopter was apparently flying at low altitude.

The shooting has raised political tensions in the country. If Hezbollah guerrillas were behind it, this could be used by the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority to increase their calls for Hezbollah to disarm.

Prime Minister Fuad Saniora called the incident a "challenge to the state's authority," according to Information Minister Tarek Mitri who quoted him after a Cabinet meeting Friday.

Strong Hezbollah critic and former legislator Fares Soeid sarcastically asked whether the "Lebanese army needs permission to fly over Lebanese territories" and wondered on Thursday whether there is a "border between the state of Lebanon and the state of Hezbollah."

Hezbollah deputy leader Sheik Naim Kassem confirmed the handover, but declined to say whether it had fired by mistake. He told Hezbollah's Al-Manar Television that the group will "abide by whatever the army and judicial investigation says" in the matter.

Military court magistrate Jean Fahd said Hezbollah turned the man over as the person who opened fire at the helicopter in Hezbollah's stronghold of Iqlim al-Tuffah, where the group is believed to have bases and concealed positions. The chopper made an emergency landing.

The As-Safir daily quoted unidentified "multiple sources" as saying that the gunmen mistook the helicopter for an Israeli aircraft dropping off soldiers in southern Lebanon. The paper often receives leaked information from the Shiite militant group.

Hezbollah's deputy chief downplayed the incident, saying it was marked by "confusion" and had no political or security implications.

"We are not two camps. We are in the same camp confronting Israel," Kassem said of the Lebanese army and Hezbollah guerrillas.

As-Safir said the shooting resulted from a "lack of coordination" on the helicopter flight. The army and Hezbollah often inform each other of their movements.

Hezbollah was the only militia allowed to keep its weapons after the end of the 1975-90 civil war, on the grounds it was fighting Israeli troops occupying part of Lebanon until 2000.

The army's statement said 1st Lt. Samer Hanna, a navigator, was killed and that the aircraft was damaged. No one else in the crew was hurt and the army was investigating, it added.

Hezbollah declined to comment on the incident. The militant group has in the past condemned attacks against the military, with which it occasionally coordinates.

However, Israeli officials attributed the attack to Hezbollah, noting that the organization has recently been trying to improve its anti-aircraft capabilities with the goal of downing Israeli planes. They also said that Hezbollah has been on edge recently for fear of an Israeli attack.

The incident occurred north of the Litani River - outside the zone where United Nations peacekeepers operate - in a predominantly Shi'ite, apple-growing region southeast of the port city of Sidon. The locale is far from both the Syrian and the Israeli borders.

However, it is also a stronghold of Hezbollah, which is believed to have bases and concealed positions there that are off-limits to the general public and the media.

A top Shi'ite cleric, Sheik Abdul-Amir Kabalan, urged the army to investigate swiftly. He suggested that a collaborator with Israel may have fired on the aircraft.

Lebanese security officials said Israeli warplanes flew over southern Lebanon near Iqlim al-Tuffah both before and after Thursday's helicopter attack, in what were apparently reconnaissance missions.

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