Hezbollah chief threatens Israel at funeral

BEIRUT, Lebanon - The chief of Hezbollah threatened Thursday to retaliate against Israeli targets after accusing the Jewish state of killing the militant Imad Mughniyeh in Syria.

Israel ordered its military, embassies and Jewish institutions overseas to go on alert Thursday, fearing revenge attacks for a car bomb that killed Mughniyeh.

Hassan Nasrallah addressed supporters of the Lebanese Islamic militant group in a videotaped eulogy broadcast on a giant screen at the Beirut funeral for Mughniyeh, who was accused of masterminding dramatic attacks that killed hundreds of Americans in Lebanon in the 1980s.

"You have killed Hajj Imad outside the natural battlefield," Nasrallah said in remarks directed at Israel. Hezbollah has long contended it only fights Israel within Lebanon and along their common border.

"You have crossed the borders," Nasrallah said. "With this murder, its timing, location and method — Zionists, if you want this kind of open war, let the whole world listen: Let this war be open."

Throngs of Lebanese turned out Thursday for two opposing Beirut gatherings — Shiite Muslims supporters of Hezbollah to bid farewell to its slain top commander Imad Mughniyeh, and their pro-Western opponents at a downtown square to mark former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's 2005 assassination.

The two gatherings showcased Lebanon's divided soul but also increased fears of violence between the rival sides, prompting authorities to deploy thousands of troops and set up blockades on major roads.

Developments could define the course in the ongoing Lebanese political confrontation, whether the country slides further into chaos — and possibly civil war — or takes a step back from the brink.

Hezbollah urged crowds to its stronghold of south Beirut, to march behind the coffin of Imad Mughniyeh, the group's former security chief and one of world's most wanted fugitives, killed in a car bombing in Syria on Tuesday night.

Hezbollah has accused Israel of killing Moughniyah but the Israeli government denied any links.

'A martyr'
The group called on supporters to "carry on our shoulders a leader of whose leadership we were proud, and a martyr by whose martyrdom we're honored."

A Hezbollah statement aired on the group's Al-Manar TV said: "Let us make our voice heard by all the enemies and murderers that we will be victorious, no matter the sacrifices."

Thousands gathered in a hall in the Roueiss neighborhood of Beirut where Mughniyeh's coffin lay draped in a Hezbollah flag and saluted by a Hezbollah honor guard. A band played Lebanon's national anthem and the guerrilla anthem. Outside in the rain, thousands of others stood in silence.

Video   Crowds pour into Beirut for terrorist's funeral Feb. 14: Crowds of Hezbollah supporters are pouring into the streets of Lebanon to march in militant Imad Mughniyeh's funeral. NBC's Jim Maceda reports. MSNBC

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, who came to the funeral in Lebanon, offered condolences to the family and Mughniyeh's associates, before accepting condolences himself. Underlining Iran's close ties to Hezbollah, he sat between Mughniyeh's father, Fayez, and Hezbollah's deputy leader, Sheik Naim Kassem.

The Iranian top diplomat then read a statement of condolences from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"He's not the first martyr, nor will he be the last on this path," Mottaki read from the statement, as an interpreter translated into Arabic. "There will be hundreds and millions more" like him.

Muhniyeh's killing was "another shameful spot in the history of Zionism and their protectors in the world," but "these crimes will shorten the lifespan of those criminals," he said.

Hariri assassination
While the mood in south Beirut was somber, in the Lebanese capitals' main Martyrs' Square, tens of thousands commemorated the third anniversary of Hariri's assassination, braving the rain and the cold, waving Lebanese flags and carrying pictures of the slain Hariri and party banners.

There were no independent crowd estimates, but majority leader Saad Hariri, the late premier's son, greeted what he said was a crowd of 1.5 million. Some beat drums and cheered as speakers lashed out at the opposition.

Hariri launched a scathing attack against the Syrian government _ but spared Hezbollah and its opposition allies, apparently deferring to the funeral occasion. He even reached out to the opposition, saying: "Our hand will remain extended no matter what difficulties and conspiracies there are."

He also called for the election of a president in parliament, accusing Syria of obstructing it since November through its Lebanese allies. Hariri said the Syrian regime acts as an "Israeli product" but warned it "will not be able to take over Lebanon.

When Hariri alluded to Mughniyeh's funeral on the other side of town, the crowd booed. "He fell under the eyes of the Syrian regime," he said of the slain Hezbollah commander, adding sarcastically, "God knows better."

A sharp Hezbollah critic, Druse leader Walid Jumblatt, said the government will not succumb to opposition efforts to deliver Lebanon "to the Iranian-Syrian black evil world." Jumblatt accused Syria and the "treacherous regime" of its President Bashar Assad of killing Mughniyeh.

"It feels so good to be here, for the sake of Hariri and Lebanon," said Esmat Itani, a 50-year-old Muslim housewife.

Suleiman Abu Ezzedine, 35, holding an umbrella against the rain, said he left work to come to "remind that we are the majority. We want justice, truth and peace."

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