Iran's foreign minister at funeral in Lebanon of slain Hezbollah commander

The Associated Press

BEIRUT, Lebanon: Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki came to Lebanon on Thursday to attend the funeral ceremony for the slain top Hezbollah commander and offered condolences to the militant's family.

Mottaki, accompanied by Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh, shook hands with and later stood in line of the grieving nearest of kin and associates of Imad Mughniyeh, killed in a car bomb in Syria late Tuesday.

With Mughniyeh's father, Fayez, on his left, and Sheik Naim Kassem, a deputy leader of Hezbollah, on his right, the Iranian officials also accepted condolences. The burial was to take place later Thursday.

Mughniyeh's assassination is considered an enormous blow to the Shiite Muslim militant group, which has close ties to Iran. The Hezbollah and Tehran have accused Israel of the bombing. Israel denied involvement.

Mughniyeh was on FBI's most wanted terror suspect list for attacks against American, Israeli and Jewish targets in the 1980s and the 1990s.

Thousands gathered in the hall in the Roueiss neighborhood where Mughniyeh's coffin was placed. A Hezbollah honor guard saluted the coffin, draped in the yellow Hezbollah flag and a band played Lebanon's national anthem as well as the guerrillas' anthem.

Outside in the rain, thousands of others stood in silence.

Underlining Iran's close ties to Hezbollah, Mottaki read a statement of condolences from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"He's not the first martyr, nor will he be the last on this path," Mottaki read from the letter, as an interpreter translated from Farsi into Arabic.

"There will be hundreds and millions more" like him, Mottaki added.

Mughniyeh's killing was "another shameful spot in the history of Zionism and their protectors in the world," Ahmadinejad's statement said. "These crimes will shorten the lifespan of those criminals."

In Tehran, officials condemned Mughniyeh's "assassination." Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say in all state matters, said in a statement that the "life and death of such person is a legend that awakes nations and portrays horizons."