Malcolm Tucker
February 13th, 2008, 06:16 AM
Hizbullah commander killed in Damascus
A car bomb in the Syrian capital Damascus yesterday killed Hizbullah commander Imad Mughniyah, who was widely believed to be behind a wave of hijacking, suicide bombing and Western hostage-taking in Lebanon in the 1980s.
Imad Mughniyah
In a statement, Hizbullah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, accused Israel of killing Mughniyah (45).
"After a life full of jihad, sacrifices and accomplishments ... Haj Imad Moughniyah ... died a martyr at the hands of the Israeli Zionists," said Hizbullah, which fought a 34-day war in 2006 with Israel.
Islamic Jihad, a pro-Iranian group widely believed linked to Hizbullah, kidnapped several Western hostages, including Americans, in Beirut in the mid 1980s. The group, at the time thought to be commanded by Mughniyah, killed a few of its captives and exchanged others for US weapons to Iran in what was later known as the Iran-Contra scandal. Among the victims was the CIA's station chief.
The FBI was offering a $5 million reward for Mughniyah's capture. It accuses him of involvement in hijacking a TWA flight in 1985, which resulted in the death of a US navy officer.
He was also implicated in the 1983 bombings of the US Embassy in Beruit, which killed 63 people, and attacks on US Marine and French peacekeeping barracks in Lebanon, which killed over 350 people.
Israel accuses Mughniyah of masterminding the 1994 bombing of a Jewish centre in Buenos Aires that killed 87 people and of involvement in a 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in the Argentinian capital that killed 28.
An Israeli cabinet minister today Mughniyah's killing. "I, of course, do not know who carried out the assassination of Imad, but he should be blessed," said Environment Minister Gideon Ezra, who was previously a senior intelligence officer. The comment was the first by a member of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government.
Mughniyah's brother was killed in a car bomb in Beirut in 1994. Reports at the time suggested Imad had been the target. Mughniyah had spent much of the 1990s in Iran making only few visits to Beirut.
© 2008 ireland.com
A car bomb in the Syrian capital Damascus yesterday killed Hizbullah commander Imad Mughniyah, who was widely believed to be behind a wave of hijacking, suicide bombing and Western hostage-taking in Lebanon in the 1980s.
Imad Mughniyah
In a statement, Hizbullah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, accused Israel of killing Mughniyah (45).
"After a life full of jihad, sacrifices and accomplishments ... Haj Imad Moughniyah ... died a martyr at the hands of the Israeli Zionists," said Hizbullah, which fought a 34-day war in 2006 with Israel.
Islamic Jihad, a pro-Iranian group widely believed linked to Hizbullah, kidnapped several Western hostages, including Americans, in Beirut in the mid 1980s. The group, at the time thought to be commanded by Mughniyah, killed a few of its captives and exchanged others for US weapons to Iran in what was later known as the Iran-Contra scandal. Among the victims was the CIA's station chief.
The FBI was offering a $5 million reward for Mughniyah's capture. It accuses him of involvement in hijacking a TWA flight in 1985, which resulted in the death of a US navy officer.
He was also implicated in the 1983 bombings of the US Embassy in Beruit, which killed 63 people, and attacks on US Marine and French peacekeeping barracks in Lebanon, which killed over 350 people.
Israel accuses Mughniyah of masterminding the 1994 bombing of a Jewish centre in Buenos Aires that killed 87 people and of involvement in a 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in the Argentinian capital that killed 28.
An Israeli cabinet minister today Mughniyah's killing. "I, of course, do not know who carried out the assassination of Imad, but he should be blessed," said Environment Minister Gideon Ezra, who was previously a senior intelligence officer. The comment was the first by a member of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government.
Mughniyah's brother was killed in a car bomb in Beirut in 1994. Reports at the time suggested Imad had been the target. Mughniyah had spent much of the 1990s in Iran making only few visits to Beirut.
© 2008 ireland.com