Hezbollah chief threatens Israel at funeral

Mughniyeh's death
Mughniyeh's death from a bomb that blew up his SUV in Damascus could raise tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, as well as with the militants' allies, Syria and Iran. Israel and Hezbollah fought a bloody war in the summer of 2006, and some Lebanese figures close to the Shiite group called Wednesday for attacks against Israel in retaliation for Mughniyeh's death.

Israel's embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was destroyed by a bombing in 1992 that killed 29 people, about a month after Israeli helicopter gunships rocketed a motorcade in southern Lebanon, killing Hezbollah leader Sheik Abbas Musawi, Nasrallah's predecessor. Mughniyeh was accused of engineering the Argentine attack.

In Israel, officials said security instructed embassies and Jewish institutions around the world to go on alert Thursday for fear of Hezbollah revenge attacks, and the army raised its awareness on its border with Lebanon and in the Palestinian territories.

The Hezbollah-linked newspaper As-Safir said Nasrallah had quickly appointed a replacement for Mughniyeh as head of the secretive "Jihadi Council," but did not identify the replacement.

Mughniyeh's slaying also could stir up more domestic turmoil in the deeply divided Lebanon, where the Hezbollah-led opposition is locked in a bitter power struggle with the Western-backed government.

'Falling into hatred'
Crowds also paid respects at Hariri's gravesite next to the downtown square as his brother, Shafik, unveiled a statue of the slain leader at the spot where he was killed, a few hundred meters (yards) away on a seaside boulevard. A flame was lit and a taped message broadcast from Hariri's widow, Nazek, who lives in Paris, urging against "falling into hatred" and calling on "unity to save the country."

The anti-Syrian parliamentary majority had hoped a massive show of popular support on the anniversary would force the Hezbollah-led opposition to compromise in a 15-month political stalemate that has paralyzed the country.

Hariri's supporters blame Syria for killing the prominent politician in a massive suicide truck bombing in Beirut three years ago and for a series of bombings and assassinations since. Hariri's assassination ignited mass protests and international pressure that forced Syria to withdraw its army from Lebanon after 29 years of control.

Authorities deployed some 8,000 troops and policemen to protect the Hariri rally. Armored carriers took up positions on major intersections, and additional razor wire was brought in to separate the two sides on rain-drenched streets.

Amid fears of street violence, the U.S. Embassy encouraged American citizens in Lebanon to limit all but essential travel Thursday. Across Beirut, businesses and shops put off popular Valentine's Day celebrations for later in the week.

Mughniyeh was also on the FBI's list of most wanted terrorists, and the U.S. State Department had offered a US$5 million reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction. He was indicted in the U.S. for his role in planning the 1985 hijacking of a TWA airliner in which a U.S. Navy diver was killed.

He was also accused of carrying out or directing a series of spectacular attacks, including engineering the vicious suicide bombings of the U.S. Marines barracks and two embassy compounds in Beirut in 1983-84.

A total of about 260 Americans were killed in those attacks. Mughniyeh was also believed to be the mastermind behind the kidnappings of Americans and other Westerners in Beirut in the 1980s. Israel accused Mughniyeh of involvement in the 1992 and 1994 bombings of the Israeli embassy and a Jewish center in Buenos Aires, attacks that killed more than 100 people.

He vanished in the early 1990s, reportedly undergoing plastic surgery and moving between Lebanon, Syria and Iran on fake passports.

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