Ex-Hizbullah Chief Tufayli Mourns Death of bin Laden

A former Hizbullah leader on Tuesday mourned the death of Osama bin Laden, whom he hailed as having "fought to defend Islam and its people."

Sheikh Sobhi al-Tufayli, the Iranian-backed group's first secretary general, lamented the death of a "great man, courageous, sincere in his faith, loyal to his convictions" in a statement eulogizing bin Laden.

But Tufayli, a Shiite Muslim who split with Hizbullah in 1992 in protest against the party's decision to participate in parliamentary elections, also noted his disagreement with the radical Sunni al-Qaida leader.

"Some situations had a negative impact on the unity of Muslims and inadvertently served Western interests of conquering our countries."

In 1998, the Lebanese government issued a warrant for Tufayli's arrest on charges of "attacking national security" after he called for civil disobedience against the state.

He is believed to still be living in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.

Hizbullah has not officially commented on the death of bin Laden, killed in a U.S. raid on a mansion in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad, a two-hour drive from the capital Islamabad.