Hariri Calls on Lebanese to Heavily Participate in Hasan Funeral
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri called on Saturday on the Lebanese to attend the funeral of Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau head Brigadier General Wissam al-Hasan en mass.
He stressed that the roads shouldn't be blocked to allow everyone to reach the Martyrs Square in downtown Beirut.
“Everyone of you is personally invited to attend the funeral on Sunday,” Hariri said in a televised speech.
General Hasan, killed on Friday in a car bombing, would be laid to rest in the mausoleum of Hariri, who was assassinated in 2005, Internal Security Forces chief Ashraf Rifi told al-Mustaqbal television earlier.
The funeral would take place following afternoon Muslim prayers at al-Amine mosque in downtown Beirut, near the mausoleum, Rifi said.
Under Hasan, the ISF played a central role in the August arrest of Lebanon's former information minister Michel Samaha, who has close links to Damascus. He was charged with planning attacks to spark sectarian strife in Lebanon.
The agency was also deeply involved in seeking the arrest of those responsible for a host of attacks and assassinations between 2005 and 2008, starting with the Hariri assassination, for which Hasan blamed Damascus.
In October 2010, the Syrian courts issued arrest warrants against 33 Lebanese figures, including General Hasan, for perjury in the case of the Hariri assassination.
Source: Agence France Presse
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