U.S. Says it Will Help Lebanon Investigate Hasan Assassination
The United States will help Lebanon investigate the car bombing in Beirut that killed Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau head Brigadier General Wissam al-Hasan, a staunch critic of Syria, the State Department said Sunday.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke by phone Sunday with Prime Minister Najib Miqati to again condemn Friday's attack that killed Hasan and two others, department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
Clinton and Miqati "agreed that the U.S. would provide assistance in the investigation of the bombing," Nuland added.
On Friday, the United States condemned the blast as a terror strike. And on Sunday, Clinton underscored "the United States' firm commitment to Lebanon's stability, independence, sovereignty and security," Nuland said.
In Beirut, Lebanese police fired in the air and used tear gas to repel protesters trying to storm Miqati's office, amid calls for him to quit after the deadly attack.
Hasan's funeral on Sunday had been billed as a protest against Syrian meddling in Lebanon, but quickly turned into anger at Miqati, whose government is dominated by pro-Syria parties.
Despite calls for him to quit, Miqati said he would stay on at President Michel Suleiman's request to avoid a "political vacuum" in volatile Lebanon.
The opposition has widely blamed Syrian President Bashar Assad for Friday's attack, as it did in 2005 when former premier Rafik Hariri was killed in a huge Beirut blast.
Source: Agence France Presse
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