Hezbollah declares "open war" on Israel

Hezbollah declares 'open war' on Israel
17 hours ago
BEIRUT (AFP) — 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.
"Zionists, if you want this kind of open war, then let the whole world listen: Let this war be open," Hassan Nasrallah said at the funeral of top Hezbollah commander Imad Mughnieh, killed in Damascus on Tuesday by a car bombing 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. 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 openly threatening Israeli targets abroad, and the anti-terrorism office urged Israelis abroad to take extra precautions.
On a visit to Washington, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni dismissed the threat by saying her country knows how to deal with Hezbollah.
"Israel is a strong state, the Jewish people are strong and our answer to terror is clear. Statements by this or that terrorist won't change this and we are not panicking," she said.
Israeli chief of staff Lieutenant General Gaby Ashkenazi earlier "ordered land, air and naval forces on alert to ensure defence of the northern border and of other interests in the country."
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 said. "Hezbollah has a long record of carrying out violent acts, acts of terrorism around the globe."
In Beirut's southern suburbs, mourners waved yellow Hezbollah flags and 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," Nasrallah 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 Mughnieh's funeral.
Mottaki travelled later to Damascus where he held a joint news conference with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem.
"The Zionist entity will not harvest the fruit" of its assassination of Mughnieh, Mottaki told reporters, while Muallem said he expected the killers to be unmasked soon.
Muallem said Mughnieh's death had "assassinated all efforts for peace."
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.
On a day of mass rival rallies and high tension in Lebanon, 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 central Beirut to mark the third anniversary of a car bomb attack that killed five-time prime minister Hariri.
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 denied involvement.
Majority leaders also 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 crowd.
In Washington, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed support for the ruling coalition.
"Our commitment to you and your chosen government is unshakeable. We and the international community will not rest until your calls for peace, justice, and freedom have been answered," she said.
Rice also said Washington would double its pledge to an international tribunal into the Hariri assassination "from seven million dollars to 14 million dollars," subject to notifying Congress of its plans.
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