UPDATED ON:
Friday, July 18, 2008
20:03 Mecca time, 17:03 GMT
 
News Middle East
Thousands mourn Hezbollah dead
About 5,000 mourners gathered for the memorial ceremony in Beirut [AFP]

Thousands of people have attended a memorial service in Beirut for eight Hezbollah fighters killed in the 2006 war with Israel.

The bodies of the men were returned to Lebanon two days ago as part of an exchange deal that saw Israel receive the remains of two captured soldiers.

About 5,000 people gathered in a convention hall in the the capital's southern suburbs on Friday for the memorial, which was attended by grieving relatives and supporters of the Shia movement.

Eight coffins, draped in yellow and green Hezbollah flags and decorated with floral wreaths and pictures of the deceased, were placed in the hall.

"These martyrs have defeated the enemy ... our enemy who was humiliated yesterday will remain so, by the grace of God," Hashem Safieddine, the head of Hezbollah's executive council, told the mourners.

"The brothers of these martyrs will confront the enemy if it ever thinks of making the mistake" of attacking Lebanon, he said.

"They will be buried in this blessed land after their return from the blessed land of Palestine."

Prisoner swap

The eight men were among almost 200 Lebanese and Palestinian fighters returned to Hezbollah on Wednesday, along with five Lebanese men released from Israeli prisons.

After the speech, a prayer was recited for the souls of the dead.

The prisoner swap has been celebrated as a victory over Israel [AFP]

Relatives kissed and touched the coffins before they were carried through the southern suburbs by uniformed Hezbollah fighters as thousands of people followed.

"Israel has fallen," read a sign in yellow and red.

The eight bodies were to be handed over to their families for burials later on Friday or Saturday in their native villages in southern Lebanon.

Some of the other bodies have been turned over to their respective organisations for burial, but others still require DNA testing for identification.

Officials from the Palestinian Fatah faction are still in the process of identifying them, a Fatah official said.

Among the remains of the returned Palestinian fighters was Dalal al-Moghrabi who was killed in a 1978 attack known in Israel as the "Coastal road massacre."

The 19-year-old female leader of a Fatah commando unit became an icon of the Palestinian resistance.

Tripoli fighting

Meanwhile, one person was killed and six were wounded in clashes early on Friday in Lebanon's northern port city of Tripoli, a security official said.

He said the person died and two people were wounded when a vehicle refused to stop at an army roadblock in the largely Sunni district of Bab al-Tebbaneh.

Soldiers opened fire after the driver refused to stop. An exchange of fire between fighters from Bab al-Tebbaneh and troops of the internal security forces resulted in four soldiers wounded, one seriously.

Fighting and grenade blasts are commonplace between the neighbouring districts of Bab al-Tebbaneh, where most residents are Sunni supporters of Western-backed Fuad Siniora, the prime minister, and Jabal Mohsen, a largely pro-opposition area of Alawites who support Syria and the Hezbollah movement.

Fourteen people have been killed and more than 100 wounded since June in clashes between the two neighbourhoods.

 Source: Agencies
Feedback Number of comments : 7
 
Shaq
Australia
20/07/2008
American and the rest of the world
sadly most americans see the rest of the world as inferiors. They do not value human life as they discriminate between the life of an American and someone from some other country. Occupied Palestinians (the so called Israel) are Americans too. Its all a part of media propaganda... the west and its war against Islam...

Another perspective
United States
20/07/2008
RE: How does the U.S. media cover this story?
I think the main reason this is not getting as much attention in the US media (or Arab media for that reason), is not because there is no concern for Lebanese or Palestinians, but because of the gross difference in reactions to the prisoner trade from the two sides. Hezbollah got (along with 199 bodies) a convicted murderer it turned into a hero along with 4 other LIVE prisoners who were returned stated their desire to attack again, while Israel mourned its two dead soldiers

Ronnie
Canada
22/07/2008
Sympathies here in America
Americans are open?!! Is that true? Then where are WMD in Iraq? If America, Britain, France can have Nuclear weapon then why not Iran or Libya? Did not Americans used nuclear bomb not just once but twice in Japan? There were innocent kid and people in those two cities.

Phil
United Kingdom
22/07/2008
Re: Americas feelings
It is very sad to see that most of the readers view Israel as "straightforward" as lots of people IGNORE weather their beloved ones are dead or alife in Israeli Prisons. In addition, I agree Samir Quantar is a Criminal but so ire many israeli soldiers who have the sidistic pleasure of shooting on palestinians and even shooting a palestinian kid as ha was playing football? PLease!! In addition, it is known that many of the israeli ministers ordered Lebanese and Palestinian MASSACRES! Whos is bad?

AAron Benjamin
United States
18/07/2008
How does the U.S. media cover this story?
It is interesting that most of the U.S. media ignores the funerals for the eight Lebanese resistance fighters killed by Israel, while at the same time focuses on the funerals for the two Israeli soldiers. Maybe I write this too soon to give the U.S. media a chance, but from my day to day talks with neighbors, co-workers & co-students, I can tell you most U.S. citizens feel pity for Israelis, but have no feelings, or even hate, for Lebanese (they also see Lebanese & Palestinian as the same).

Albert Cortez
United States
19/07/2008
thousands mourn hezbollah dead
surprise, surprise no coverage for the lebanese dead but for the dead jews, PLENTY. Thats why I don't bother with american media. Its like the propaganda machine of the white house.

Mike Thompson
United States
20/07/2008
Sympathies here in America
Much of the reaction of Americans to this has a simple source: The Israelis are open and straightforward in their dealings. The name of prisoners and state of health are released. This is what Americans prefer. The Hisbollah are secretive to the degree of not even saying if their prisoners are alive or not.

 
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