Rallies held for Hariri, Mughniyah

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- Several hundred thousand Lebanese gathered Thursday for the funeral of a Hezbollah leader and a ceremony honoring an assassinated former prime minister.

Hezbollah supporters lined the streets of Beirut to watch the funeral procession of Imad Mughniyah, who was killed Wednesday in a bombing in Damascus, CNN reported. Meanwhile, others gathered in Martyrs Square to mark the third anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, giving Mughniyah's eulogy, accused Israel of killing him.

"With this murder, its timing, location and method -- Zionists, if you want this kind of open war, let the whole world listen," he said. "Let this war be open."

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, considered an outcast by Hezbollah, issued a death notice, saying, "Let Allah welcome the shaheed in all his mercy and house him in heaven," Haaretz said.

The Lebanese government said schools and public institutions were closed, traffic patterns changed and trucks barred from traveling.