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An undated image of Hezbollah terror chief Imad Mughniyah. (Reuters)
Last update - 00:03 14/02/2008
Hezbollah: Mughniyah martyred at hands of 'Zionist Israelis'
Hezbollah terror chief Imad Mughniyah killed in Damascus blast
By Yoav Stern and Yossi Melman, Haaretz Correspondents, and News Agencies
Tags: Imad Mughniyah, Syria 

The Lebanon-based guerilla group Hezbollah announced Wednesday that the group's Deputy Secretary General Imad Mughniyah had been killed Tuesday night in a bomb blast in a residential Damascus neighborhood, and accused Israel of responsibility for the explosion.

"With all pride we declare a great jihadist leader of the Islamic resistance in Lebanon joining the martyrs ... The brother commander hajj Imad Mughniyah became a martyr at the hands of the Zionist Israelis," said a statement carried on Hezbollah's television station.

The Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem initially declined comment, but later issued a statement denying Israeli involvement.
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Mughniyah headed Hezbollah's operations branch serving in a role similar to chief of staff, and had been wanted by Israel and the United States for years due to his role in numerous bombings, hijackings and abductions in which hundreds of people were killed.

He was wanted for the bombings of the Israeli embassy and the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires in 1992 and 1994, as well as a wave of abductions of Westerns in Lebanon in the 1980s.

Mughniyah's death came one day before the three-year anniversary of the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, who's killing has become a symbol for divisions between the heirs to his legacy and their opponents, who are waging a political conflict that has
paralyzed the Lebanese government.

Mughniyah lived a highly secretive life, constantly moving between states like Lebanon, Iran, and Syria. In the 1990s, foreign reports claim, Israel's Mossad intelligence agency tried unsuccessfully to assassinate him in a complex operation in southern Beirut.

However, the operation killed his brother, a car shop owner in Beirut. Mughniyah was expected to be present at the funeral, giving an additional chance to assassinate him, but he never showed.

The cause of the Damascus explosion, which occurred about 10:45 P.M. Tuesday evening, was not immediately known.

Syrian security forces quickly sealed off the area and removed the destroyed car, which had its driver's seat and the rear seat blown away by the force of the blast. Syria later Wednesday also accused Israel of being behind the blast.

Damascus residents, some in their pajamas, gathered to inspect the damage, careful around shards of glass and debris. Three other cars parked nearby were also damaged, their windows shattered and doors blown out.

"I was awakened by the explosion, rushed to the window and saw the glow," one witness said. He lost the windows on his 5th floor apartment, which overlooks the bombed-out SUV.

Another witness in a 7th floor apartment rushed to the windows after the blast and said he "saw one [body] covered with a white sheet on the ground."

Both spoke on condition of anonymity.

The witnesses and Palestinian sources in Syria and Lebanon said the blast was caused by a bomb planted inside the vehicle.

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  • ANALYSIS: Hezbollah terror chief was more wanted than Nasrallah
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      1.   marvellous news 11:00  |  andifnot 13/02/08
      2.   mugniyah is a marvellous target 11:05  |  niceonemeir 13/02/08
      3.   nice one meir 11:08  |  nasrallahnext 13/02/08
      4.   muganiyah was responsible for th ekilling 11:09  |  niceonemeir 13/02/08
      5.   Thanks for saving us 25 Milliion!! 11:10  |  Gina 13/02/08
      6.   muganiyah 11:11  |  niceonemeir 13/02/08
      7.   If Mossad did it give them a medal! 11:13  |  Larry 13/02/08
      8.   justice justice shall you seek 11:14  |  niceonemeir 13/02/08
      9.   haniyah if we can get miganiyah in damascus then you 11:15  |  niceonemeir 13/02/08
      10.   Oh oh! how many Israelis now have to die in reprisal 11:16  |  Hipocrisy Monitor 13/02/08
      11.   Good job 11:19  |  Ziyad 13/02/08
      12.   sleepless nights for the hizballah elite in lebanon 11:20  |  niceonemeir 13/02/08
      13.   the jews of argentina are entitled to a small smile 11:22  |  niceonemeir 13/02/08
      14.   Great! Good riddance! Hasan and Mashal are next! 11:23  |  Roni 13/02/08
      15.   Mazal Tov 11:23  |  David Robbins 13/02/08
      16.   25 million reasons 11:24  |  Sabra 13/02/08
      17.   The forces of good win again 11:24  |  Avi 13/02/08
      18.   Hezbollah deputy chief killed. 11:25  |  David Nigel Braham 13/02/08
      19.   GOOD JOB MOSSAD 11:25  |  Doron 13/02/08
      20.   Thanks You MOSSAD 11:26  |  Marc 13/02/08
      21.   Rest in peace, Robert Stethem, victim of this Hez scum 11:28  |  Gina 13/02/08
      22.   YESSS!! 11:29  |  michell 13/02/08
      23.   Kerbloooie!!! My bet is Maronite Lebanese 11:30  |  David Teich 13/02/08
      24.   Congratulations! 11:31  |  Cherice 13/02/08
      25.   Boom ! 11:31  |  Boom 13/02/08
      26.   PROBABLY MESHAL SHOULD BE MORE CAREFUL NOW 11:32  |  Indrajaya 13/02/08
      27.   you killed abbas mosawi 11:34  |  tchako osmand 13/02/08
      28.   Small steps towards peace ? 11:35  |  Dave 13/02/08
      29.   Good job - keep going! 11:36  |  Jewish State 13/02/08
      30.   Where is my head, my body, gone....... 11:37  |  maurice 13/02/08
      31.   keep up the good work 11:37  |  happy person 13/02/08
      32.   Oh, happy day, a islamofascist less 11:37  |  Jean 13/02/08
      33.   So Syria is harboring terrorists ?? 11:38  |  maurice 13/02/08
      34.   I Am Handing Out Candies As I Type ! 11:38  |  Phil 13/02/08
      35.   terror in your eyes...hero in ours 11:39  |  Intisar 13/02/08
      36.   Won`t make a difference 11:40  |  spyguy 13/02/08
      37.   as Barak says "Will reach them everywhere" 11:40  |  maurice 13/02/08
      38.   we will wake up one lovely morning to the news 11:42  |  niceonemeir 13/02/08
      39.   Top of the pops, got his top popped off 11:44  |  hoo-ray 13/02/08
      40.   Mughniyah 11:44  |  Nasrallah 13/02/08
      41.   The zionist`s assassins 11:48  |  Natallie Durson 13/02/08
      42.   Now they`ll all be scared 11:51  |  Rafterman 13/02/08
      43.   Missing words 11:51  |  Shlomo 13/02/08
      44.   Its okay! 11:52  |  Big Moe 13/02/08
      45.   Great News 11:52  |  Dave 13/02/08
      46.   Nice end to an orchestrator of genocide 11:53  |  Allon 13/02/08
      47.   Israel Leadership: GO UNDERGROUND 11:54  |  Frank Chun 13/02/08
      48.   I wish his 100,000 biggest fans would blow up, too 11:55  |  Steve Randolph 13/02/08
      49.   Usually I am sad, when somebody dies violentlý 11:55  |  Jimmy Tree 13/02/08
      50.   BOOM!!! Kol Yisrael 7ogeget! 11:56  |  Michael Steiner 13/02/08
      51.   Rejoicing at the death of an enemy 11:57  |  Dror 13/02/08
      52.   So much for Syrian unintelligent services 11:59  |  El-Birawi 13/02/08
      53.   Good work!! 11:59  |  Evan 13/02/08
      54.   A Bomb Blast In A Residential Neighborhood 12:01  |  Clickfool 13/02/08
      55.   Clickfool.Who did that?? 12:03  |  S 13/02/08
      56.   outrage 12:03  |  Leon Rosgarten 13/02/08
      57.   just wait to see the revenge!!! 12:03  |  shadee 13/02/08
      58.   One less.. 12:04  |  Iron fist 13/02/08
      59.   Unfortunate 12:06  |  Engineer 13/02/08
      60.   let them go down one by one, from here on it`s really good - 12:11  |  ivo 13/02/08
      61.   spyguy and Intisar 12:11  |  george 13/02/08
      62.   Nazirallah is next! 12:11  |  Balagan 13/02/08
      63.   Natalie Durson 12:14  |  george 13/02/08
      64.   PNP 4 ID, IAF & Mossad! 12:14  |  Gloria 13/02/08
      65.   Congrats! 12:15  |  Ali Ali 13/02/08
      66.   Gloating over death is disgusting 12:15  |  Shai 13/02/08
      67.   The Execution of a Murder 12:16  |  Massein 13/02/08
      68.   Now Lebanese politicians will stop dying 12:17  |  Anette 13/02/08
      69.   Hold the celebrations for a minute and consider 12:18  |  Tzfonit 13/02/08
      70.   Clickfool 12:18  |  george 13/02/08
      71.