Hariri, Jumblatt say Assad killed top security chief

[oberliner]

Two of Lebanon's top anti-Damascus political leaders accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of assassinating a top Lebanese security official in a car bomb attack in Beirut on Friday.

"We accuse Bashar al-Assad of the assassination of Wissam al-Hassan, the guarantor of the security of the Lebanese," former prime minister and opposition chief Saad Hariri told a Lebanese television station.

The intelligence bureau of the Internal Security Forces played a key role in the August 9 arrest of Lebanese former Minister Michel Samaha, a supporter of the Damascus regime, over a case of an explosives plot against north Lebanon.

By arresting Samaha, Hassan "had recently uncovered a plan by Bashar al-Assad's regime to carry out attacks and assassinations in Lebanon," Hariri said in a statement.

"I will not be silent... after this horrible crime," he added.

http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=448396#ixzz29nPHVJYL

[xchrom]

1. Interesting. Nt

[morningfog]

2. Assad's trying to start a regional war. Already fighting with Turkey, noe Lebanon.

[FarCenter]

3. Maybe, but he was killed in the middle of a Christian district.

Everybody hates everybody there.

Wissam al-Hassan was Hariri's father's chief of security. His alibi for that assassination was weak.

[oberliner]

4. What's your take?

Any additional insights?

[FarCenter]

5. There is now a bio up on wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wissam_al-Hassan

In 2010 the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that the U.N. investigators from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon were suspecting al-Hassan of possible involvement in the assassination of Hariri. The investigators considered his alibi to be "weak and inconsistent."

He was backed by the March 14 Alliance, so possibly he was assassinated by the March 8 Alliance. But who knows. It's the Middle East.