Sunday, October 21, 2012

Beirut boosts security ahead of general's funeral

AAA??Oct. 21, 2012?3:08 AM ET
Beirut boosts security ahead of general's funeral
AP

Lebanese mourners light candles during a vigil for Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan and at least seven others who were killed in a Friday bomb attack in Beirut, Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012. The government declared a national day of mourning for the victims on Saturday, but protesters took to the streets, burning tires and setting up roadblocks around the country in a sign of the boiling anger over the massive bomb that Lebanon's prime minister linked to the civil war in neighboring Syria. (AP Photo/Ahmad Omar)

Lebanese mourners light candles during a vigil for Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan and at least seven others who were killed in a Friday bomb attack in Beirut, Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012. The government declared a national day of mourning for the victims on Saturday, but protesters took to the streets, burning tires and setting up roadblocks around the country in a sign of the boiling anger over the massive bomb that Lebanon's prime minister linked to the civil war in neighboring Syria. (AP Photo/Ahmad Omar)

FILE - In this Thursday, Nov. 23, 2006 file photo, posters of Syrian President Bashar Assad are burned by anti-Syrian protesters during the funeral of assassinated Christian politician Pierre Gemayel, at the Martyrs square, in Beirut, Lebanon. Syria has a long and tumultuous history of meddling into Lebanese affairs. For much of the past 30 years, the seven-times-smaller Lebanon has lived under Syrian military and political domination. Since the uprising against President Bashar Assad began in February 2011, Lebanon has been steadily drawn into the unrest ? a troubling sign for the country with political parties rooted in various Christian and Muslim sects, many of which are armed. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, file)

Protestes march past a billboard depicting slain Gen. Wissam al-Hassan with Arabic that reads, "the martyr of commitment to state and law," in Martyrs' Square during a protest against the killing of the country's intelligence chief, al-Hassan and at least seven others in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012. The government declared a national day of mourning for the victims on Saturday, but protesters took to the streets, burning tires and setting up roadblocks around the country in a sign of the boiling anger over the massive bomb that Lebanon's prime minister linked to the civil war in neighboring Syria. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Smoke from burning tires rises over the skyline as people protest the killing Friday in Beirut of the country's intelligence chief, Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan and at least seven others in a bomb attack targeting his convoy, in Tripoli, Lebanon, Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012. The government declared a national day of mourning for the victims on Saturday, but protesters took to the streets, burning tires and setting up roadblocks around the country in a sign of the boiling anger over the massive bomb that Lebanon's prime minister linked to the civil war in neighboring Syria.. (AP Photo)

(AP) ? 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 was killed along with seven others Friday in an attack that many blame on Syria. He was in charge of an investigation over the summer 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."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-10-21-Lebanon/id-87aa3b5d5d6849d6adc0d7bebb25aca3

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