Beirut Remains a Powder Keg Following Intelligence Chief’s Murder
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AFP/Getty Images(BEIRUT) — The situation in Beirut remains unsettled due to civil unrest that resulted from the assassination of Lebanon’s top intelligence officer who opposed Syria’s involvement in Lebanon’s affairs.
For a second day Monday, the Lebanese military fought with supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in various neighborhoods inside the capital, with several deaths reported.
The fear now is that unless the government clamps down hard on the dissidents, who still remain small in number, the disturbances could spread throughout Lebanon.
Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan was killed in a car bomb blast last Friday, which was believed in retaliation for the intelligence chief charging a former Lebanese minister with arranging terrorist attacks organized by Syria.
Anger over al-Hassan’s death is growing as many feel in Lebanon that their Hezbollah-dominated government has become too close to Damascus.
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