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Tracing the Trail of the Killers of Imad Mughniyah |
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Thursday, 14 February 2008 |
On Tuesday February 12, Imad Mugniyah, aka Hajj Radwan, one of the central
figures of the Lebanese movement of Hezbollah was killed in a car bombing in
Damascus.
He was considered as the head of Hezbollah's security branch and one of its
co-founders.
After a brief silence, the office of Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert released
a statement, denying any involvement in the assassination of the Hezbollah
figure and raising the question that if the regime were not behind the terrorist
act, who the culprit could be.
Although it is too early to conclude who the assassin really is, it is not
difficult to guess who benefits from the crime.
It is plain simple that no rival Lebanese group is in the position to commit
such a criminal act, keeping in mind the power of Hezbollah in Lebanon and its
strong base among the nation. Even if any militia group had planned to deal a
blow to Hezbollah, it would have realized that amid an ongoing political crisis
in the country, killing a Hezbollah leader would amount an act of political
suicide that could trigger a no-win war.
In addition, no political party in Lebanon would benefit from murdering a
politician who had not played an active role in the country's political scene
for years.
On the other hand, the US accused Mugniyah of involvement in several operations,
including the 1983 bombings of the US Embassy, and US Marine and French
barracks, as well as the 1992 bombings of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires.
In fact, the slain Hezbollah leader had been on top of the US most wanted
'terrorist' list with a $5 million bounty on his head.
Therefore, no one could be blamed for pointing a finger at the US as one of the
accomplices to the terrorist act.
What about Israel? The Zionist regime has publicly been threatening that it
would assassinate the leaders of Hezbollah and other resistance movements who
are considered as obstacles to the regime's policy of intimidating Muslim
nations into accepting the humiliating conditions imposed by Israel for a
so-called Middle East peace agreement.
No matter what you call such threats, they are blatant examples of 'state
terrorism' which the opponents of the US in the region, including Iran and Syria
are accused of.
Olmert certainly has the motivation. By killing a prominent Hezbollah figure,
the embattled prime minister and his allies could ease the pressure over the
humiliating defeat of the Zionist regime in the 33-day war which has been
increased after the release of the Winograd Report and is to prompt the
premier's resignation.
There is also a possibility that through this act, the US was sending a message
to Hezbollah that it would protect the interests of Israel at any price.
Olmert is right; he did not personally kill Mugniyah. The assassination was a
joint US-Israeli macabre play performed by Israeli spy agencies and their
mercenaries to punish Hezbollah for reviving the spirit of resistance across the
Middle East and exploding the myth of Israel's invincibility.
Source: Press TV
Comments posted are the sole opinion of the author and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of AIM. |
