Syria: Imad Mughniyeh Assassinated

The latest headlines from Damascus talk of a car bomb explosion in the uptown neighborhood of Kafar Suseh. The explosion – as was discovered later today – was a successful assassination attempt at one of Hizbulla‘s top leaders Imad Mughniyeh.
Imad Mughniyeh, is considered to be No.2 in Hizbulla after Hassan Nasrallah. He is on the FBI's top wanted list, and is considered to be behind the 1983 Marines Barracks bombing in Beirut which claimed the lives of 241 marines.

Reactions came swiftly, with Wassim writing:

I heard smatterings this morning that the person who died in the car bombing in Damascus had been Imad Mughniyeh but it wasn't till I made a call to a friend that it was confirmed. He said “Imad Mughniyeh” as soon as he picked up the phone and my heart sunk. In a struggle where many talk and only a few “do”, the loss of even one is felt much more deeply. There will be a quick response. .

Razan, objected on describing him as a militant, saying he was a “fighter“:

My room was shaking the minute I heard that sound. I thought it was Israel, the neighbors thought it was a tank of gas, but only the dead knew what it was.
Update: no “militant” was killed, but a fighter was assassinated.

As to who might have done it, many theories arise. The most obvious accusation would be towards Israel and the US. Hizbulla was swift to point its finger towards the Mossad. Moreover, considering the timing of the assassination – being right before the March 14's Hariri anniversary commemorations, and during Iran's FM's visit to Damascus, and a day after Lebanese March 14 MP Walid Junblatt made his civil-war reminiscent comments about Hizbulla and Syria – many are wondering whether March 14 has a hand in it. Others are suggesting it might actually be a small part of a larger deal in the making between Washington and Damascus.

Joshua Landis‘ blog has an interesting and rapidly updated discussion in the comment section. Here are some of the comments:

Qifa Nabki, said:

I’ve spoken to people close to the opposition in Beirut, and many are also very worried (if not paranoid) that this may have been carried out by the Syrians.
They put it as follows: if it was the Americans, that’s ok because they’ve been after him for a long time. If it was the Israelis, that is very bad (because of all the reasons mentioned above). The worst scenario is that if Syria took him out, as part of a deal with the Americans. With a prize like Mughniya, it would have to be a pretty big carrot for Syria, like another major concession by M14, veto to the opposition, etc.

MSK, said:

The Israelis definitively want vengeance and “targeted assassinations” are part of their M.O. Taking out Imad Mughniyah would give the Israeli leadership loads of bonus points with the Israeli public – he’s been one of the “demons” ever since the 1980s – and at the same time signal to the region “We can get anyone, anywhere.” If he wasn’t safe in Damascus, who IS safe & where?

Qunfuz said:

Syria did it – this is surely nonsense. Not in this way, in their own capital. If they wanted to give him up they would hand him over in Lebanon, and then make a quiet complaint about his ‘kidnapping’ by whichever intelligence service they handed him to. And as Qifa said, it would only be the start of a bigger realignment.

12 comments

  • Canadian Guy

    I’m glad to see Imad Mughniyeh die. We need less violence and more peace and tranquility in the world. Violence solves nothing!

  • […] Global Voices Online articles: Syria: Imad Mughniyeh Assassinated Share […]

  • Canadian Guy,
    And the assassination of Mughniye falls into the “Not Violent” category?
    Not that I endorse anything he did against civilians. But I think the timing and consequences imply that the perpetrator is actually stirring for more violence.

  • Aaron Aarons

    Although I follow events in the so-called Middle East somewhat closely, and have always admired the blows struck against U.S. imperialism in Lebanon in 1983, I had not — as far as I can remember — even heard of Imad Mugniyah until a few hours ago, when I chanced upon a CNN article about his assassination. I find it outrageous but not surprising that CNN and other Western ruling-class media refer to him as a “terrorist”, despite the fact that virtually every attack they ascribe to him was against a military or quasi-military target. It’s too bad that some other, more famous, Arab and Muslim fighters haven’t followed his example in this respect, but have instead followed the murderous example set by the U.S., Israel and other imperialists.

    The assassination of Imad Mughniyeh is one win for the bad guys. Let’s hope it won’t be too serious a blow to the anti-imperialist struggle.

  • Nassah

    Excuse my ignorance but for a man in his calibar to be assassinated so easily under the watchful ees of syria is worrying. To sum it, it is worrying to think that he is dead when he is planning for new wars. Deception is his game and timing is everything. This has given hizballah a counter memorial on the same day that Rafic Harriri died and will do so for years to come. This has given them leverage rather than loss. We shoudl eb careful how we read events and interpret them. It also aided in minimising the search for Imad, although im doubtful that CIA intelligence didnt pick that up already. People keep your eyes open for Imad or any new alias or face he goes with because this man is a living dead

  • […] عن نفس الموضوع على الأصوات العالمية: سوريا: اغتيال عماد مغنية […]

  • today is a start

    The violance will be followed by violance, Israel is the cause of all problems in the midlle east, and they are totaly supported by Americans, when Isreal amd Americans will deal in a fair way with the midlle east problems, everyone will live peacfuly

  • Muslim’s against Sharia is spamming that statement after running google blog searches for “imad.”

  • Thanks TJ Neruda – have deleted now.

    Moderator.

  • […] that Israeli intelligence thinks Hezbollah seeks to attack Israeli targets abroad to avenge the February assassination of Imad Mughniyeh, Hezbollah’s number two and suspected of being involved in the 1983 bombing […]

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