Mourners riot at Lebanese official's funeral
Scores attend service held for slain Intelligence Chief Wissam al-Hassan; clash with Lebanese security forces
Tens of thousands of Lebanese waving the national flag packed a central square in downtown Beirut Sunday for the funeral of a top intelligence official assassinated in a car bombing that many blame on the regime in neighboring Syria.
Lebanese soldiers set up road blocks and cordoned off Martyrs Square, where Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan's coffin, draped in a Lebanese flag, was to be brought to for burial.
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Angry mourners marched on Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati's offices in central Beirut on Sunday, breaking through an outer security barrier and scuffling with police who fired tear gas in response.
"Mikati leave, get out," chanted hundreds of protesters following the funeral of a slain intelligence chief.
They also chanted slogans against Syrian President Bashar Assad, who they accused of being behind the killing of Wissam al-Hassan. Local media reported of injuries
Al-Hassan, 47, was a powerful opponent of Syria in Lebanon. He headed an investigation over the summer that led to the arrest of former Information Minister Michel Samaha, a Lebanese politician who was one of Syria's most loyal allies in Lebanon. He was among eight people killed in the attack on Friday.
"He was killed while he was defending his country," said Samer al-Hirri, who traveled from northern Lebanon to attend the funeral.
Ahead of the burial, there was a memorial ceremony attended by government officials and al-Hassan's wife Anna, his two sons, Majd and Mazen, and his parents.
The funeral procession
Even before Friday's bombing, the civil war in neighboring Syria had set off violence in Lebanon and deepened tensions between supporters and opponents of President Bashar Assad's regime.
The attack heightened fears that Lebanon could easily plunge back into cycles of sectarian violence and reprisal that have haunted it for decades.
France's foreign minister said it was likely that Assad's government had a hand in the assassination. Laurent Fabius told Europe-1 radio that while it was not fully clear who was behind the attack, it was "probable" that Syria played a role.
"Everything suggests that it's an extension of the Syrian tragedy," he said.
Dozens of anti-Syrian protesters erected eight tents near the Cabinet headquarters in central Beirut, saying they will stay until Prime Minister Najib Mikati's government, which is dominated by the Shiite militant group Hezbollah and its allies, resigns.
Hezbollah is Syria's most powerful ally in Lebanon, which for much of the past 30 years has lived under Syrian military and political domination.
"The Syrian regime started a war against us and we will fight this battle until the end," said protester Anthony Labaki, a 24-year-old physiotherapist who is a member of the right-wing Phalange Party. He said the protesters will not leave the area until Mikati's government resigns and those behind al-Hassan's killing are uncovered.
Al-Hassan will be buried in Beirut's Martyrs Square next to the late Hariri.
AP and Reuters contributed to this report
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