'Asharq Alawsat': Mughniyeh met Mashaal for talks

'Asharq Alawsat': Slain Hizbullah terrorist also met top security figure in Syria shortly before his death.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Mashaal 224.88 (photo credit: AP [file])
Mashaal 224.88
(photo credit: AP [file])
Slain Hizbullah terror chief Imad Mughniyeh traveled from Teheran to Damascus 25 days ago to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip with Hamas's exiled leader Khaled Mashaal, Asharq Alawsat reported on Thursday morning. Also according to the London-based newspaper, a short time before his assassination, Mughniyeh met with a senior security figure in Syria. An Iranian source quoted by the newspaper called the assassination a "tragedy for Hizbullah" and blamed Israel for the killing. "The assassination was carried out on Syrian soil; Syria would have had no interest in doing this," he said. Meanwhile, another London-based newspaper, Al-Hayat, reported that a few hours before his death, Mughniyeh entered Syria under an assumed identity to hide his presence in the country from the Syrian authorities. The Syrians were therefore not immediately aware that Mughniyeh was the man killed in Tuesday night's blast in Damascus.