Lebanese security forces are setting up road blocks and cordoning off
Beirut’s central Martyrs’ Square ahead of a public funeral for a top
intelligence official who was assassinated in a massive car bombing.
Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan’s was killed along with seven others on
Friday in an attack that many blame on
Syria. He was in charge of an
investigation that led to the arrest of a Syrian-allied Lebanese
politician over what authorities called a plot by Damascus to provoke
chaos with bombings and assassinations.
The probe was an embarrassing blow to Syria, which has long acted with impunity in Lebanon.
Giant posters of al-Hassan were set up around Beirut ahead of Sunday’s
funeral calling him a “martyr of sovereignty and independence.”
