Hizbullah Leader Vows to Wage 'open War' on Israel

Hizbullah's leader today vowed to wage "open war" against Israeli targets around the world after accusing Israel of assassinating the organization's militant commander, Imad Mughniyeh.

Hassan Nasrallah said Israel, which has denied carrying out the killing in the Syrian capital Damascus, had acted "outside the natural battlefield".

"You have crossed the borders," Nasrallah said in a fiery eulogy at Mughniyeh's funeral in south Beirut. "With this murder, its timing, location and method - Zionists, if you want this kind of open war, let the whole world listen: let this war be open."

"Like all human beings we have a sacred right to defend ourselves," said Nasrallah, speaking in a videotaped message broadcast over a giant screen at the ceremony. "We will do all that takes to defend our country and people."

Nasrallah went into hiding in 2006, fearing a possible assassination attempt and making only three public appearances since the summer war that year with Israel.

Mughniyeh, the alleged mastermind of a series of terrorist atrocities which killed hundreds of people in Lebanon and overseas, died in a car bombing on Tuesday.

Nasrallah warned that Israel's killing of Mughniyeh was a "very big folly" which Israel will eventually pay for.

"Mughniyeh's blood will lead to the elimination of Israel. These words are not an emotional reaction," he said, drawing roars from the crowd which raised fists into the air.

In heavy rain, supporters of Hizbullah turned out for the funeral of its top commander.

Mughniyeh was on the FBI's list of most wanted terrorists, and the US state department had offered a $5m (£2.5m) reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction.

He was indicted in the US for his role in planning the 1985 hijacking of a TWA airliner in which a US Navy diver was killed.

He was also accused of carrying out or directing a series of attacks, including suicide bombings of the US Marines barracks and two embassy compounds in Beirut in the 1980s.

Israel has instructed embassies and Jewish institutions around the world to be on heightened alert in case of revenge attacks, and its army has stepped up security on the border with Lebanon and in the Palestinian territories.

The Hizbullah-linked newspaper As-Safir said Nasrallah had quickly appointed a replacement for Mughniyeh as head of the secretive "Jihadi Council", but did not identify the replacement.

Amid fears of street violence, the US embassy encouraged American citizens in Lebanon to limit all but essential travel. Across Beirut, businesses and shops put off popular Valentine's Day celebrations for later in the week.

Meanwhile, thousands of anti-Hizbullah supporters poured into Beirut's Martyrs' Square for the third anniversary of the assassination of the former prime minister, Rafik Hariri.

They waved Lebanese flags and carried pictures of Hariri and party banners. Crowds paid their respects at his grave site next to the downtown square as his brother, Shafik, unveiled a statue of the dead leader at the spot where he was killed, a few hundred meters away on a seaside boulevard.

A flame was lit and a taped message broadcast from Hariri's widow, Nazek, who lives in Paris, urging against "falling into hatred" and calling for "unity to save the country".

Hariri's supporters blame Syria for killing the prominent politician in a suicide truck bombing in Beirut three years ago and for a series of bombings and assassinations since. Hariri's assassination triggered ignited mass protests and international pressure that forced Syria to withdraw its army from Lebanon after 29 years.

The anti-Syrian parliamentary majority had hoped a massive show of popular support on the anniversary would force the Hizbullah-led opposition to compromise in a 15-month political stalemate that has paralyzed the country.