9 years ago
Friday, October 19, 2012
Beirut car bomb kills leading Syrian foe
Senior Lebanese intelligence official Wissam al-Hassan, who led the investigation that implicated Syria and Hezbollah in the assassination of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, was killed by a huge car bomb in Beirut on Friday.
Hassan was also the brains behind uncovering a bomb plot that led to the arrest and indictment in August of former Lebanese minister Michel Samaha, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al- Assad, in a setback for Damascus and its Lebanese allies including Hezbollah.
Saad al-Hariri, the son of Hariri, accused Assad of killing the top intelligence official.
The bomb, which exploded in a busy street during rush hour, killed seven other people and wounded about 80, officials said. The attack prompted Sunni Muslims to take to the streets in areas across the country, burning tires in protest.
Rubble and the twisted, burning wreckage of several cars filled the central Beirut street where the bomb exploded, ripping the facades and balconies off buildings.
Firefighters scrambled through the debris and rescue workers carried off the bloodied victims on stretchers. The blast came as many parents were picking up their children from school.
The attack brought the war in neighboring Syria to the Lebanese capital, confirming fears that the conflict would spill over its borders.
The Syria crisis, in which 30,000 people have been killed in the past 19 months, has pitted mostly Sunni insurgents against Assad, who is from the Alawite sect linked to Shi'ite Islam.
Lebanon's religious communities are divided between those supporting Assad and those backing the rebels trying to overthrow him.
Hassan, a Sunni Muslim from northern Lebanon, was a leading opponent of Assad within the Lebanese intelligence services.
"I can just say that it is true, he is dead," an official who worked with Hassan told Reuters.
Two Syrian officers, including General Ali Mamlouk, the head of the Syrian national security bureau, were also indicted with Samaha in an unprecedented move against the more powerful neighbor - a major player in Lebanon's affairs for decades.
The indictment said their targets included politicians and religious figures.
Hassan had been a close aide to Hariri, a Sunni Muslim who was killed in a 2005 bomb attack. He led the investigation into the murder and uncovered evidence that implicated Syria and Hezbollah, Lebanon's pro-Iranian Shi'ite Muslim group.
Hassan was also the brains behind uncovering a bomb plot that led to the arrest and indictment in August of former Lebanese minister Michel Samaha, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al- Assad, in a setback for Damascus and its Lebanese allies including Hezbollah.
Saad al-Hariri, the son of Hariri, accused Assad of killing the top intelligence official.
The bomb, which exploded in a busy street during rush hour, killed seven other people and wounded about 80, officials said. The attack prompted Sunni Muslims to take to the streets in areas across the country, burning tires in protest.
Rubble and the twisted, burning wreckage of several cars filled the central Beirut street where the bomb exploded, ripping the facades and balconies off buildings.
Firefighters scrambled through the debris and rescue workers carried off the bloodied victims on stretchers. The blast came as many parents were picking up their children from school.
The attack brought the war in neighboring Syria to the Lebanese capital, confirming fears that the conflict would spill over its borders.
The Syria crisis, in which 30,000 people have been killed in the past 19 months, has pitted mostly Sunni insurgents against Assad, who is from the Alawite sect linked to Shi'ite Islam.
Lebanon's religious communities are divided between those supporting Assad and those backing the rebels trying to overthrow him.
Hassan, a Sunni Muslim from northern Lebanon, was a leading opponent of Assad within the Lebanese intelligence services.
"I can just say that it is true, he is dead," an official who worked with Hassan told Reuters.
Two Syrian officers, including General Ali Mamlouk, the head of the Syrian national security bureau, were also indicted with Samaha in an unprecedented move against the more powerful neighbor - a major player in Lebanon's affairs for decades.
The indictment said their targets included politicians and religious figures.
Hassan had been a close aide to Hariri, a Sunni Muslim who was killed in a 2005 bomb attack. He led the investigation into the murder and uncovered evidence that implicated Syria and Hezbollah, Lebanon's pro-Iranian Shi'ite Muslim group.
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