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’s was killed along with seven others on Friday in an attack that many blame on Syria. He was in charge of an investigation 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.”
