BEIRUT, Lebanon, Feb. 20 (UPI) -- Israel's Mossad was responsible for killing Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh, an investigative report published by the Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar said.
"The Mossad which was under the leadership of Meir Dagan at the time, was responsible for the operation from A to Z," the newspaper said in a report Tuesday.
Mughniyeh left his apartment building Feb. 12, 2008, and headed toward his car parked nearby. A bomb in the vehicle detonated, killing Mughniyeh outright, the report said.
Those believed involved in the assassination fled in cars.
Ahead of the assassination, the Mossad allegedly recruited a Syrian and asked him to move to Damascus and provide logistics for the operation, which was planned over a 6-week period, the report said. Other people allegedly involved in the plot weren't Syrian nationals.
Mughniyeh's movements and the Kfar Soussa neighborhood in Damascus where he lived and operated from were closely monitored, the report said. Mughniyeh reportedly considered Syria a safe-haven and it was believed that Israel wouldn't target Syria, the report said.
Mughniyeh was believed to have been responsible for numerous terror attacks, including the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut in which 63 people died, in the 1980s and 1990s against Israeli and U.S. targets. He was believed to have masterminded the October 1983 truck bombings in which 241 U.S. Marines and 58 French soldiers were killed.
While Israel is believed to have been behind his assassination with the assistance of other Arab states, the Israeli government has never admitted involvement.
