BEIRUT — A top Lebanese intelligence official was among eight people killed by a car bomb that exploded Friday in a bustling central district of the Lebanese capital — igniting fears that spillover violence from neighboring Syria may inflame sectarian tensions in Lebanon.
Wissam al-Hassan, intelligence chief for the Internal Security Forces, was allied with a political bloc that is a fierce opponent of the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
News of al-Hassan’s death immediately signaled that the blast was a well-planned, professional assassination — not a random bombing or a “message” attack, as some had initially speculated.
His killing signals a potentially perilous moment for Lebanon, with its weak central government and deep sectarian fissures. Many feared the attack could trigger new violence across Lebanon’s sectarian fault line.
The White House is condemning “in the strongest terms” what it calls a terrorist attack.
Lebanese protesting the attack took to the streets of several areas, burning tires and blocking roads. Gunfire was reported in the flashpoint northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, site of frequent clashes between Assad’s supporters and opponents.
Al-Hassan was a loyalist of Lebanon’s adamantly anti-Assad “March 14” coalition, a leading Sunni Muslim-led faction said to have close ties to Washington. The March 14 grouping stands in opposition to the current Lebanese government, which is backed by Hezbollah, the Shiite militant group and loyal ally of Assad.
Rumors swirled Friday that al-Hassan worked closely with the Syrian opposition, which has a strong presence in Lebanon. But there was no immediate confirmation that al-Hassan had any direct role with the Syrian armed groups seeking to oust Assad.
Several opposition politicians in Lebanon immediately blamed Syria, and the Lebanese government vowed a thorough investigation.
“It is clear that the Syrian regime is responsible for such an explosion,” said Nadim Gemayel, a member of Parliament and senior member of the Phalange Party, whose father, Bashir Gemayel, was assassinated in an explosion at party headquarters in 1982 just a few weeks after he was elected president. “It is such a big explosion that only the Syrian regime could have planned it.”
