Hizbollah fighter tells Israel he trained in Iran

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A Hizbollah fighter captured by Israel has told interrogators he received training in Iran and arrived there on a flight from Syria, a tape of the interrogation released by the Israeli army showed on Monday.

During questioning the man also confessed to taking part in the cross-border raid on July 12 in which two Israeli soldiers were captured, the incident which sparked the current conflict.

"We trained in Iran," the man, who gave his name as Mahmoud Ali Suleiman, told the interrogator. "We went from Beirut in civilian cars... to the airport in Damascus."

Suleiman, who gave his age as 22, said between 40 and 50 people went with him for the training, which involved instruction in the use of anti-tank weapons. He didn't say when the training took place or how long it lasted.

The man, speaking in Arabic, said he joined Hizbollah in 2000 and had carried out two operations with the Lebanese guerrilla group, the first in December 2005 when they had tried to take on an Israeli tank entering southern Lebanon.

The second operation was the one in July, when the two Israeli soldiers were seized and eight were killed in subsequent mortar fire and clashes.

As well as the brief stint in Iran, Suleiman said he had done extensive training at a Hizbollah camp in Baalbek, in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa valley.