Wissam Al Hassan Assassinated in Beirut blast

Editor’s Note: Once again, violence has erupted in Beirut - a place where assassinations are all too frequent and usually involve powerful members of one faction or another. Today, its being reported (as seen in the following article) that a such major assassination has been carried out again. Following the article by our good friend Kerry Patton, we would like to provide an additional update from further sources both SUA and Mr. Patton have on the ground in Lebanon. The specter of the Syrian revolt is washing into Lebanon again due to the long history of the Assad Regimes ties and control over much of Lebanon. (Update 3:30 pm – Colonel Hassan is actually a Brigadier General, corrections made.)

Update: BG Wissam Al Hassan, an intelligence officer for the Lebanese Internal Security Forces, belongs to the pro-Hariri/Saudi camp called March 14. He Conducted raids against people affiliated with March 8th alliance and arrested many pro-Syrian activists and harassed their politicians in Lebanon. Among them, they arrested one of Lebanon’s Ministers, Michel Samaha, who was a personal friend of Syrian President Bashar al Assad.

A powerful car bomb detonated today in Beirut, 2-3 hours ago, in the Christian district of Ashrafiah, next to the Lebanon Phalange Party headquarter, casualty reports are rising and the latest count indicates that 10 persons died and there are about 100 wounded.

The Syrian Regime of Assad, in a tactical move. rushed to condemn the explosion, but it is strongly believed that Hezbollah and the Syrian regime are behind it. SUA spoke with senior Lebanese Army Intel sources, who said the car bomb was placed on an avenue that BG Wissam Al Hassan traveled often while performing his responsibilities within Beirut. BG Wissam Al Hassan’s body is now at the Hotel Dieu de France Hospital where he was declared dead not long ago, and it was broadcast on national television.

Al Jazeera had this broadcast not long ago as well:

This is a strong blow against the US backed Saudi security and political bloc in Lebanon. The FBI had previously created a crime lab to aid the police force in Lebanon, helping this unit getting closer to the US intelligence community, and the Lebanese police unit created by BG Wisam El Hassan was considered very close to the US Intel.

A 100% Hezbollah/Syrian regime message has been sent to the US and its allies in Lebanon. Most of the eyes of the Lebanese Army Intel are focusing right now on one Shiite Lebanese General in helping Hezbollah conduct this blast, Jamil al Sayyed.  This Shiite General had been the previous director of the Lebanon “Surete Generale Agency”, and Sunni BG Wissam el Hassan was a personal rival. The Surete Generale is now controlled by the Shiites today, while the the Police are run by the Sunnis. General Abbas Ibrahim is now the director of that agency and is Shiite/Hezbollah.

The Army Intel is 100% sure that Al Sayyed had a hand in the surveillance of Col. Hassan prior to his assassination.

A car burns at the site of an explosion in the Ashrafieh district of Beirut, Lebanon, on Oct. 19, 2012. (Mahmoud Kheir / Reuters)

The question is, would they dare to arrest  him or question him under these circumstances? The answer is a clear NO, not as long as Hezbollah dominates and rules the ground in Lebanon.

_______________________

Major terror attack unfolds in Lebanon

By Kerry Patton – Examiner

A major terrorist attack unfolded in the heavily populated Christian district in Beirut, Lebanon known as Achrafieh. According to numerous social media feeds predominantly coming out of Twitter and Facebook, no terrorist organization has claimed responsibility at this time.

Assassinated in Beirut - Colonel Wissam Al Hassan, an intelligence officer for the Lebanese Internal Security Forces

So far, the numbers of persons killed remains unknown. Many persons have been severely injured. For individuals near Hotel Dieu, a field trauma site has been established and medical teams are searching for persons to donate blood.

Chatter is filling the internet with mixed reports. Hezbollah, a terrorist proxy for Iran, is accusing Al Qaeda for the incident. This is one of the first times the world has heard of Hezbollah pointing a finger at its Sunni counterpart Al Qaeda. Yes, Hezbollah has accused its Sunni rivals in the past of certain incidents but never this fast after an incident and never in a communique that has spread like a wildfire across the globe.

Al Qaeda on the other hand is accusing members founded in the March 14 alliance who hold close ties with Bashir Assad in Syria. Hezbollah is one of those members aligned with the March 14 alliance.Al Qaeda has found its way into Lebanon making serious headway in shifting geo-politics with more Sunni influence.

This explosion and the constant fin[g]er pointing could lead to a devastating crisis inside the Middle East. If Al Qaeda and Hezbollah continue to point fingers, the largest terror versus terror war could ensue.

The crisis in Syria makes sense as a center of gravity having influence over this incident. Hezbollah fighters once assisted Assad’s forces. Many of them returned back to Lebanon when Syrian rebels seized certain strongholds. Their withdrawal from Syria could be viewed as a sign of weakness.

Sunni backed militants in Syria oppose the Alawite regime. Assad’s Alawite regime is predominantly backed by Shiites in Iran. The Sunni’s fighting Assad comprises of large pools of Al Qaeda fighters, many of which are foreign fighters from across the Middle East.

Syria is the ultimate Sunni versus Shiite civil war. That war may have just moved into Lebanon.

Updates will continue as more details unfold.

Shortlink: