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Beirut: Lebanese Shiite Muslim mourners are flocking to the grave of slain Hezbollah commander Emad Mughnieh saying the man who had been wanted by the United States and Israel is now a symbol of defiance.
Mughnieh was assassinated by a car bomb on February 12 in Damascus. He was Hezbollah's military commander at the time of his death and the site where he and other prominent fighters are buried has been turned into a shrine.
Hezbollah commemorates the 40th day since his death today. Its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is expected to address thousands of followers at the event in Beirut's southern suburbs.
Mughnieh's tented grave-site lies a few kilometres from where the commemoration will take place. More than 100 Hezbollah fighters are also buried there, including Nasrallah's son, Hadi, who died fighting Israel in 1997. The site has seen a sharp increase in visits since Mughnieh's death.
The grave, cut off from part of a larger cemetery along southern Beirut's main highway, is adorned with pictures of dead Hezbollah fighters and Quaranic verses blare from loudspeakers.
Mughnieh's grave lies at the centre with a framed picture of him set at the top surrounded by flowers.
Hezbollah and Iran have blamed Israel for killing Mughnieh, whose nom de guerre was Haj Radwan, and who was the commander of Hezbollah's powerful fighter army when it fought a 33-day war with Israel in 2006.
Though Israel rejects this charge, Mughnieh had been hunted by the Mossad spy service and was on the United States most wanted list for two decades. "We feel proud of the martyrdom of Haj Radwan. He is the leader of war and victory against the Zionist enemy," said Fatma Sa'ad, a mourner who came with her family and friends in a rented minibus from a southern Lebanese village.
"It is an honour for us that he be considered a terrorist in the eyes of our enemies."
Nasrallah has vowed to avenge his killing and has threatened Israel with "open war," a sentiment expressed in a banner at the gravesite's entrance which reads:
"Oppressors will never enjoy peace of mind, our hand is on the trigger of the gun".
"We really did not know who Emad Mughnieh was, and we never knew that he was behind victories against the Israeli enemy but his esteem is greater after his martyrdom," said Faten, Sa'ad's daughter.
"He is a symbol of sacrifice." Several mourners said Mughnieh's assassination would only strengthen Hezbollah's resolve in its resistance against Israel.
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