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“Mughniyeh Mourned”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Anger swept the hometown of top Hizbullah security official Imad Mughniyeh killed in a car bombing in Syria blamed on Israel, as residents mourned their elusive “legend” on Wednesday.

A coffin holding Mughniyeh’s body was placed on a podium in Hizbullah’s stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where the Shiite militant group planned a memorial service for the “martyr” on Thursday.

It was not clear, however, where Mughniyeh, who was killed on Tuesday in Damascus, would be buried.

“He was a legend. We always heard of his victories against Israel although we never knew him personally,” said Ahmad, a 22-year-old man as he climbed an electricity pole to erect a black flag.

“Today each one of us has become an Imad Mughniyeh,” against Israel, he said.”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “”We were shocked to learn that he was killed in Syria. We thought he was safe there,” Mughniyeh’s 51-year-old aunt Fayza told AFP as she stood outside the abandoned family home near the village cemetery.

“He left the village a long time ago, shuttling between Syria and Iran, and for years I did not see him. But two years ago he snuck in after his mother passed away to pay his respects,” she said.

According to several reports, Mughniyeh eluded his detractors by undergoing plastic surgery to alter his features. “

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Not a single picture of Mughniyeh could be seen in Tair Debba, although the village was decked with portraits of his two brothers Fouad and Jihad, who were also killed in car bombings blamed on Israel.

Black flags and the yellow banners of Hizbullah fluttered in the village, which resounded with verses of the Quran, Islam’s holy book. “

Beirut, 13 Feb 08, 11:32