Hizbullah on Sunday held Israel "fully responsible" for the booby-trap car assassination of one of its activist, vowing "inescapable revenge."
"All indications unequivocally confirm that Israel is fully responsible for this ugly crime deep inside Lebanese territory in a densely populated residential neighborhood," said a Hizbullah statement. "This crime shall not pass without punishment."
The statement described the victim, Ali Hussein Saleh, 42, as a "martyr who took part in several holy war operations against the Zionist enemy" and called for a massive turnout for his funeral at his Bekaa hometown of Brital before midday Sunday.
Saleh perished as he turned the ignition of his black BMW at rue Hadi Nasrallah in Haret Hreik Saturday morning. A man sitting next to him in the car also was killed along with a woman on a nearby sidewalk.
The Iranian embassy in Beirut has dismissed local media reports that Saleh, a father of six children, had worked for the embassy as a security officer. "The victim had no ties whatsoever with the Iranian diplomatic mission," a statement said.
An Nahar daily noted on Sunday that the bombing in Beirut's southern suburb of Haret Hreik took place within the immediate security zone of Hizbullah's command headquarters of Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
(Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
