The_Prince
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Lebanon's Hezbollah opposition chief declared "open war" on Israel on Thursday while hundreds of thousands of government supporters filled central Beirut to remember slain ex-premier Rafiq Hariri.
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"Zionists, if you want this kind of open war, then let the whole world listen: Let this war be open," Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech broadcast on a giant screen at the funeral of slain top Hezbollah commander Imad Mughnieh.
The militant was killed in Damascus on Tuesday by a car bombing which Hezbollah has blamed on Israel.
"The blood of Imad Mughnieh will contribute to the disappearance of the Jewish state," said Nasrallah, whose fighters claimed victory in the devastating July-August 2006 war against Israel.
"You killed him outside our natural battleground," he said in a fiery speech. "Our battleground with you is on Lebanese territory and you have overstepped the border."
In Israel, which welcomed Mughnieh's killing but has denied involvement, military radio said Nasrallah was now openly threatening Israeli targets abroad.
Its anti-terrorism office advised citizens abroad to take extra precautions.
And Israeli chief of staff Lieutenant General Gaby Ashkenazi "ordered land, air and naval forces on alert to ensure defence of the northern border and of other interests in the country" following Mughnieh's death.
The United States called Nasrallah's warning alarming.
"As a general matter, those kinds of statements are quite concerning and they should be alarming to everyone," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.
"Quite clearly Hezbollah has a long record of carrying out violent acts, acts of terrorism around the globe."
The Beirut mourners, waving yellow Hezbollah flags, repeatedly punched the air as their charismatic leader who tops Israel's Most Wanted list stressed his points with a jabbing finger.
"The July war is not over, it is ongoing and no ceasefire was ever declared," he said of Israel's 34-day long offensive which failed to recover two captured soldiers or halt militant rocket attacks.
A Hezbollah spokesman said at least 20,000 people, including Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, attended the funeral in the Shiite Muslim group's southern suburbs stronghold.
"Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah need only say one word for us to fight the Zionist enemy," shouted Ali Zaydan, a young Hezbollah supporter.
On a day of mass rival rallies and high tension, there had been fears of clashes between rival pro- and anti-Syrian factions, and security personnel were deployed in force in Beirut.
Government supporters packed a rain-sodden Martyrs' Square in centre of the capital to mark the third anniversary of five-time prime minister Hariri's assassination by a car bomb on the Beirut seafront.
Members of the Western-backed parliamentary majority, led by Hariri's son Saad, have blamed Syria for Hariri's death and those of other anti-Damascus figures killed in the past three years.
Syria, which like Iran supports Hezbollah, has repeatedly denied involvement.
Members of the ruling coalition demanded an end to the long-running presidential deadlock and accused Syria of continuing to meddle in Lebanese politics.
Lebanon has been without a president since November when pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud's term ended. It has been mired in political crisis since Hariri's murder, which sparked outrage and forced Syrian troops out after a 29-year deployment.
"Today you have come again to say we want a president. And we say to you we will have a president," Saad Hariri told the Lebanese flag-waving crowd.
In Washington, McCormack told reporters the anniversary was a reminder "about the sacrifices that many around the world and in Lebanon are making to build a strong, democratic state."
UN chief Ban Ki-moon in a statement reaffirmed the world body's resolve to help establish the truth and bring those who killed Hariri to justice.
Meanwhile, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sent his condolences to Nasrallah, hailing Mughnieh. "It should make the Lebanese proud to have given the world such great men," he said.
Mughnieh, in his late 40s, was also on America's Most Wanted list for his role in a string of attacks in the 1980s and 1990s against US and Israeli targets, including the bombing of the US marine barracks in Beirut in 1983.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/2008021...80214182913;_ylt=AtKHN2cC1i4cpy4R.suAz0kUewgF
btw folks there is actually no solid evidence, infact there is NO evidence that mughnieh was responsible for the attacks against the American barracks and American embassy in beirut.
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"Zionists, if you want this kind of open war, then let the whole world listen: Let this war be open," Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech broadcast on a giant screen at the funeral of slain top Hezbollah commander Imad Mughnieh.
The militant was killed in Damascus on Tuesday by a car bombing which Hezbollah has blamed on Israel.
"The blood of Imad Mughnieh will contribute to the disappearance of the Jewish state," said Nasrallah, whose fighters claimed victory in the devastating July-August 2006 war against Israel.
"You killed him outside our natural battleground," he said in a fiery speech. "Our battleground with you is on Lebanese territory and you have overstepped the border."
In Israel, which welcomed Mughnieh's killing but has denied involvement, military radio said Nasrallah was now openly threatening Israeli targets abroad.
Its anti-terrorism office advised citizens abroad to take extra precautions.
And Israeli chief of staff Lieutenant General Gaby Ashkenazi "ordered land, air and naval forces on alert to ensure defence of the northern border and of other interests in the country" following Mughnieh's death.
The United States called Nasrallah's warning alarming.
"As a general matter, those kinds of statements are quite concerning and they should be alarming to everyone," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.
"Quite clearly Hezbollah has a long record of carrying out violent acts, acts of terrorism around the globe."
The Beirut mourners, waving yellow Hezbollah flags, repeatedly punched the air as their charismatic leader who tops Israel's Most Wanted list stressed his points with a jabbing finger.
"The July war is not over, it is ongoing and no ceasefire was ever declared," he said of Israel's 34-day long offensive which failed to recover two captured soldiers or halt militant rocket attacks.
A Hezbollah spokesman said at least 20,000 people, including Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, attended the funeral in the Shiite Muslim group's southern suburbs stronghold.
"Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah need only say one word for us to fight the Zionist enemy," shouted Ali Zaydan, a young Hezbollah supporter.
On a day of mass rival rallies and high tension, there had been fears of clashes between rival pro- and anti-Syrian factions, and security personnel were deployed in force in Beirut.
Government supporters packed a rain-sodden Martyrs' Square in centre of the capital to mark the third anniversary of five-time prime minister Hariri's assassination by a car bomb on the Beirut seafront.
Members of the Western-backed parliamentary majority, led by Hariri's son Saad, have blamed Syria for Hariri's death and those of other anti-Damascus figures killed in the past three years.
Syria, which like Iran supports Hezbollah, has repeatedly denied involvement.
Members of the ruling coalition demanded an end to the long-running presidential deadlock and accused Syria of continuing to meddle in Lebanese politics.
Lebanon has been without a president since November when pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud's term ended. It has been mired in political crisis since Hariri's murder, which sparked outrage and forced Syrian troops out after a 29-year deployment.
"Today you have come again to say we want a president. And we say to you we will have a president," Saad Hariri told the Lebanese flag-waving crowd.
In Washington, McCormack told reporters the anniversary was a reminder "about the sacrifices that many around the world and in Lebanon are making to build a strong, democratic state."
UN chief Ban Ki-moon in a statement reaffirmed the world body's resolve to help establish the truth and bring those who killed Hariri to justice.
Meanwhile, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sent his condolences to Nasrallah, hailing Mughnieh. "It should make the Lebanese proud to have given the world such great men," he said.
Mughnieh, in his late 40s, was also on America's Most Wanted list for his role in a string of attacks in the 1980s and 1990s against US and Israeli targets, including the bombing of the US marine barracks in Beirut in 1983.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/2008021...80214182913;_ylt=AtKHN2cC1i4cpy4R.suAz0kUewgF
btw folks there is actually no solid evidence, infact there is NO evidence that mughnieh was responsible for the attacks against the American barracks and American embassy in beirut.
