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An undated image of Hezbollah terror chief Imad Mughniyah. (Reuters)
Last update - 20:25 17/02/2008
U.S. spy chief: Hezbollah may be behind Mughniyah killing
By Yoav Stern, Amos Harel, Yuval Azoulay, and Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondents
Tags: Hezbollah, Syria, Iran 

The U.S. intelligence chief said Sunday that internal Hezbollah factions or Syria may be to blame for the killing of top Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyah last week.

Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell said the United States is still reviewing the case following the death last Tuesday of Mughniyah in a car bombing in the Syrian capital of Damascus.

Hezbollah blamed Israel and has pledged to attack Jewish targets worldwide in retaliation. That led the FBI last week to be vigilant for possible threats in the U.S. against synagogues and other potential Jewish targets.
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McConnell said he considers the threat to be primarily against Israel. But he said U.S. intelligence officials are keeping a close watch and taking any necessary action to protect the United States because Mughniyeh has been responsible for more deaths of Americans and Israelis than any other terrorist with the exception of Osama bin Laden.

"It is a serious threat," McConnell said. "There's some evidence that it may have been internal Hezbollah. It may have been Syria. We don't know yet, and we're trying to sort that out."

Barak: Syria, Iran may help Hezbollah avenge Mughniyah
Meanwhile, Defense Minister Ehud Barak told the cabinet Sunday that Syria and Iran my assist Hezbollah in striking Israeli targets following the assassination of its deputy leader Tuesday in Damascus.

"It's safe to assume Hezbollah will try to retaliate for the assassination of Imad Mughniyah, possibly with Iranian and Syrian assistance," Barak said.

The defense minister said Mughniyah's death dealt a serious blow to Hezbollah and global terror in general, stressing it would take Hezbollah a long time to find a suitable replacement.

Barak said he believes Hezbollah, Syria, and Iran do not know who carried out the assassination, but that nonetheless Hezbollah has decided to point an accusing finger at Israel.

"The IDF and defense establishment are prepared on all fronts," he said. "We have no interest in escalation, but we will conduct ongoing situation assessments, including threats abroad, in order to be prepared."

The defense establishment is concerned Hezbollah may use an explosives-laden unmanned aerial vehicle to attack a civilian or military target in northern or central Israel in retaliation for the Mughniyah assassination. The Israel Air Force has been placed on alert for such a possibility.

To date, Hezbollah has dispatched five Iranian-made drones against Israel, three of them during the Second Lebanon War in August 2006. Two were shot down by the air force, and one crashed. The drones were loaded with dozens of kilograms of high-grade explosives and apparently had been intended to crash in the heavily populated Dan region.

The IDF also has bolstered its forces along the northern border, anticipating Hezbollah may launch a massive rocket attack on the area. However, the army has no specific information about the group's intentions in this regard.

Syrian and Iranian officials believe there will be a serious military confrontation with Israel in the near future, according to Al-Akhbar, a Lebanese daily affiliated with Hezbollah.

Hezbollah's response to the assassination of Imad Mughniyah, the organization's operations chief, will force Israel to make a "difficult decision," the newspaper stated in an editorial. Hezbollah blames Israel for Mughniyah's assassination in Damascus last week.

Ibrahim al-Amin, Al-Akhbar's editor, said in a televised interview that Hezbollah does not intend to accept Mughniyah's assassination quietly. Hezbollah's response "will force Israel to make a big decision," he said. However, he insisted that Hezbollah was not interested in a war with Israel.

Related articles:
  • PMO denies Israeli role in Imad Mughniyah's death
  • ANALYSIS: Imad Mughniyah - The epitome of the 'Axis of Evil'
  • Syria: We condemn Mughniyah killing as a cowardly terrorist act
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