Anti Syrian official killed by Beirut car bomb
20 October CNN
Tensions were high Friday night around Lebanon, hours after a top
Lebanese intelligence official known for his anti-Syrian stance and at
least two others were killed in a massive explosion in normally peaceful
neighborhood of Beirut. Gunfire erupted in the capital and enraged
citizens blocked roads after the blast, which left Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan
dead and heightened fears that Syria's civil war could boil over into
neighboring Lebanon. In Sidon, people shouted, blocked city streets and
burned tires in protest, according to CNN iReporter Ernesto Altamirano.
The friction turned to violence in other spots, including clashes in
the seaside Lebanese city of Tripoli between supporters and foes of
Syria's government. Saad Hariri, a Lebanese opposition leader and former
prime minister, told CNN that he had no doubt who was responsible for
the bloody car bombing: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. He accused the
Syrian leader of "killing his own people" and said "he will not think
twice" about killing Lebanese in order to protect himself. "The message
from Damascus today is anywhere you are, if you are against the regime
from Lebanon, we will come and get you," said Hariri, who blames the
2005 assassination of his father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, on
Syria's government. "No matter what you try to do, we will keep on
assassinating the Lebanese."
The blast took place during Friday afternoon rush hour in East
Beirut's cosmopolitan Ashrafiyeh district, a predominantly Christian and
populous area replete with shops, churches and office buildings. The
neighborhood is considered among the safest in the city, said Aram
Nerguizian, who teaches around the block from the attack site.The huge
blast shattered this peace spurring panicked and tearful residents to
pour out of their apartments, with some carrying victims to nearby
ambulances. The bomb's impact created a crater near Sassine Square, tore
balconies off apartments, left rows of mangled cars and charred
buildings, and shook the windows in CNN's offices, about a 10-minute
drive from the scene. At least one car was engulfed in flames, blackened
wreckage littered the street, and windows were blown out. The exact
casualty count was unclear: Lebanon's National News Agency said eight
people died and more than 90 were injured, but it later amended the
figure to at least three deaths and 110 injuries.
Reports said al-Hassan was among the dead. And a Lebanese political
source who did not want to be named told CNN it was 99% confirmed that
al-Hassan had been killed. "There is an unrecognizable body found, and
they have found his personal belongings at the scene," the source said.
The intelligence official's killing brought a sense of deja vu to
Lebanese, recalling the 2005 assassination of Rafik Hariri, which
triggered the end of Syria's occupation of Lebanon, and the turmoil that
followed.
Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan a pivotal, 'polarizing' figure Al-Hassan,
the chief of the Internal Security Forces Information Branch, was a
powerful Sunni Muslim figure aligned with a political movement that
emerged after Rafik Hariri's assassination and opposes Syria's
government under al-Assad.
He was also leading an investigation into a Lebanese politician
accused of working with two Syrian officials to plan attacks inside
Lebanon. That former minister and member of parliament, Michel Samaha,
is in jail awaiting trial after being accused of trying to arm and form
an armed group to spread sectarian violence in Lebanon by plotting
political and religious assassinations. Two Syrian security officers
also have been charged in the case.
"Unfortunately, today, al-Hassan paid the price for his success,"
Saad Hariri said.
His brother Ahmed Hariri, a top party official in the March 14
movement opposition bloc, said in a press conference that he holds
Lebanon's government responsible for inadequate security and not doing
more to prevent the blast. He urged Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati
and his government to resign immediately. Mikati declared Saturday a day
of national mourning in decrying the "abominable crime" in a statement.
But his failure to appear publicly after the explosion elicited
criticism, including from one protester in Beirut who said, "This
government is killing us by not doing anything. It is not acting like a
government.
It is like a ghost government." Human rights groups, foreign
governments and world leaders condemned the attack, demanded justice and
called for calm in the volatile Middle East nation. U.N.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, for instance, urged "all Lebanese parties
not to be provoked by this heinous terrorist act and to maintain their
commitment to national unity." The Shiite militant and political
movement Hezbollah which has a prominent role in Lebanon's government
and which the U.S. government labels a terrorist organization also
criticized the blast, which it described as a "sinful attempt to target
the stability and national unity."
Syria called the attack a cowardly, "unjustifiable" terrorist act.
Yet some, including Saad Hariri and Andrew Tabler of the Washington
Institute for Near East Policy, are not convinced, believing Damascus is
responsible either directly or indirectly for the bombing.
Many Lebanese believe al-Assad wants to promote instability in
Lebanon and elsewhere to turn attention away from the 19-month long
civil war in his country. Lebanon is still recovering from its own
15-year civil war, which ended in 1990. Since then, the country has been
plagued by assassinations and sectarian tension among Sunnis, Shiites,
Christians and others.
"An event like this can increase the risks of Sunni-Shiite conflict
in urban centers like Beirut," Nerguizian said. "It could be a harbinger
for more instability." |