Rifi: Hasan's Murder Will Not Deter us from Performing our Duties

Internal Security Forces chief Ashraf Rifi stated that ISF Intelligence Bureau head Brigadier General Wissam al-Hasan's assassination on Friday is a loss for Lebanon and the ISF, reported As Safir newspaper on Saturday.

He told the daily: “The murder will not deter us from performing our duties, regardless of the sacrifices.”

He refused to make political accusations over who might be behind the crimes, saying: “All options are open, but we are searching for tangible evidence.”

He speculated that the murder may have been a response to former Minister Michel Samaha's arrest.

It may have been committed by a “fifth column” aimed at creating strife in Lebanon, he added.

The crime may have also been a response to Hasan's uncovering of Israeli espionage networks in Lebanon or terrorist cells in the country, continued Rifi.

He revealed that no one from the ISF, not even him, was informed that Hasan had returned to Lebanon from abroad.

As Safir said that the ISF had recently issued a media statement to mislead the public over Hasan and Rifi's travels for security reasons.

Rifi himself had returned to Lebanon at dawn on Friday and the time of the Ashrafiyeh blast, he had thought that Hasan was still in France.

The slain security chief had in fact returned to Lebanon on Thursday night.

“Security agencies around the world have their flaws,” Rifi told As Safir.

In addition, he revealed that he was unable to identify Hasan's body because the force of the blast.

He instead realized that Hasan was targeted through part of his handgun, mobile phone, and watch that were found at the scene of the crime.

Hasan was killed in a car bomb explosion in Beiut's Ashrafiyeh district on Friday.

“Initial findings revealed that some 60 to 70 kilograms of TNT were used in the blast,” Rifi said.

A security source told As Safir that Hasan was leaving a secret residence in Ashrafiyeh when he was targeted.

He was traveling, along with his companion Ahmed Sahyouni, in an unarmored Honda Accord to his office, it added.

No one knows the routes he takes, not even Rifi, it revealed.

Conflicting reports emerged over the number of dead in the blast with some sides putting the figure at three and others at eight.

At least a hundred people were wounded in the explosion.

Hasan was close to former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and hostile to the regime in Syria. He had been tipped to take over as ISF head at the end of this year.

The ISF played a central role in the arrest in August of Samaha, who has close links to Damascus and was charged with planning attacks in Lebanon and transporting explosives in collaboration with Syrian security chief Maj. Gen. Ali Mamlouk.