Bin Laden's 'role model' killed in blast

Beirut: A Hezbollah commander suspected in some of the deadliest terrorist attacks of the last 25 years and a reputed role model for Osama bin Laden has been killed in Syria, Hezbollah TV said on Wednesday.
Imad Mughniyeh died in an explosion in a residential section of the Syrian capital, Damascus, said Hezbollah's television station, Al-Manar. Hezbollah blamed Israel for the killing, but Israeli officials denied involvement.
"Israel rejects the attempt by terrorist elements to ascribe to it any involvement whatsoever in this incident," Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in a statement. The FBI said it was awaiting official confirmation of Mughniyeh's death and the details.
"If this information proves true, it would be good news in the ongoing fight against terrorism as one major terrorist will no longer be around to commit additional acts of terror against Americans and others in the world," FBI Special Agent Richard Kolko said.
US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack called Mughniyeh 'a cold-blooded killer, a mass murderer and a terrorist who was responsible for [ending] countless lives.' "The world is a better place" without the Hezbollah commander, McCormack said.