World a 'better place' without Hezbollah leader: US spokesman

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States said Wednesday the "world is a better place" without a top commander of the Lebanese Shiite Muslim militia Hezbollah, who was assassinated in a car bombing in Damascus.

Analysts and others, however, warned of the high likelihood of retaliation against Israel, which Hezbollah immediately blamed for the killing of Imad Mughnieh, a central figure in terrorist attacks by Shiite extremists since the 1980s.

US intelligence threat assessments have routinely underscored that Hezbollah is the only group besides al-Qaeda with the reach and capability to strike targets in the United States.

But the United States grimly welcomed the death of a man that is believed to have been behind kidnappings of westerners, assassinations of US...