March 14 Youth Groups Hold Open-Ended Sit-in at Martyrs Square, Erect Tents Near Grand Serail
March 14 youth groups held Saturday an open-ended sit-in at the Martyrs Square in Downtown Beirut against the assassination of Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau head Brigadier General Wissam al-Hasan.
The protesters also erected tents near the Grand Serail to press the resignation of the cabinet.
“The sovereignty of this country will not be compromised,” al-Mustaqbal MP Ahmed Fatfat told protesters.
He called on the Lebanese to participate en mass the funeral of Hasan on Sunday.
“The Syrian-Iranian regime will not return to Lebanon,” Fatfat added.
The groups earlier demanded the expulsion of the Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali.
“The protests will not end until Lebanon's Spring is achieved,” they declared.
In addition, they demanded that the “international community assume its responsibilities towards Lebanon.”
Hasan was killed on Friday in a car bomb in Beirut's Ashrafiyeh district.
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 former Minister Michel 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.
Hasan also played a central role in the investigation in Rafik Hariri's murder in February 2005, as well as uncovering Israeli espionage networks and terrorist cells in Lebanon.
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