Roads Remain Blocked across Lebanon to Protest Hasan's Assassination
Angry youths continued on Saturday their protests against Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau head Brigadier General Wissam al-Hasan's assassination on Friday by blocking roads in various regions throughout the country.
The youths had protested the murder on Friday by also blocking roads with burning tires and other barriers.
They continued their actions on Saturday morning with roads being blocked in Beirut's Corniche al-Mazraa district.
They also blocked roads near the Sports City.
In Tripoli, gunshots were heard at the Nahr Abu Ali roundabout as the Beddawi-al-Aabdeh road in the North was blocked, said Voice of Lebanon radio on Saturday.
Clashes also broke out Friday night between rival groups in Tripoli's Abi Samra neighborhood, reported the National News Agency.
Sheikh Abdul Razzaq al-Asmar was killed in the unrest and the army has since intervened to restore calm, it added.
In the South, the northern entrance to the city of Sidon was blocked with burning tires, added LBCI television.
Media sources told al-Arabiya television that roads were also blocked throughout the central Bekaa and Rashaya district in eastern Lebanon
Prime Minister Najib Miqati had announced on Friday that Saturday will be a national day of mourning over Hasan's death.
Hasan was killed on Friday in a car bomb in the Ashrafiyeh district in Beirut.
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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