Lebanon capital tense after public funeral

Violence erupted in downtown Beirut after protesters tried to storm the offices of Najib Mikati, the prime minister, following the funeral of an assassinated intelligence chief whose death they blame on Syria.

Security forces shot into the air and police fired tear gas on Sunday to repulse the hundreds of protesters who overturned barriers and threw stones and steel rods, witnesses said.

The funeral of General Wissam al-Hassan had been billed as a protest against Syrian meddling in Lebanon, but quickly turned into equal, if not greater, anger at Mikati and his government.

An angry crowd had marched on the government's headquarters, or the Serail, after politicians at the funeral of Brigadier-General Wissam al-Hassan, who was killed by a car bomb on Friday, called on him to resign over the killing.

Al Jazeera's Gregg Carlstrom, reporting from the scene of the violence, said about 50 opposition supporters tried for up to half an hour to approach the Serail, throwing sticks, rocks and rods until they were dispersed by Internal Security Force (ISF) personnel.

"The whole country will be shut down until Mikati resigns. We are going to block roads, we are going to protest," Ahmad Balaa, a young activist of the opposition March 14 alliance who was among the protesters, told Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid, reporting from Tripoli in north Lebanon, said that there were reports of a Sunni Muslim woman getting killed by a sniper.

The latest clashes fed into a growing political crisis in Lebanon linked to the civil war in neighbouring Syria.

Perceived proximity

The opposition and its supporters believe Mikati is too close to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his Lebanese ally Hezbollah, which is part of Mikati's government.

Many of the protesters waved flags from the opposition Future movement - a mainly Sunni Muslim party - and Christian Lebanese Forces as well as black Islamist flags.

They scattered after the ISF intervention and there were no immediate reports of any casualties other than two people fainting.
Al Jazeera's Rula Amin reports on Sunday's protests in Beirut

Saad Hariri, leader of the March 14 alliance, urged supporters to refrain from any more violence.

"We want peace, the government should fall but we want that in a peaceful way. I call on all those who are in the streets to pull back," Hariri, speaking on Future Television channel, told supporters after the attack.

"The whole country will be shut down until Mikati resigns. We are going to block roads, we are going to protest," Ahmad Balaa, a young supporter of the March 14 alliance who was among the protesters, told Al Jazeera.

Hassan, 47, a Sunni Muslim, had helped uncover a bomb plot that led to the arrest and indictment in August of a pro-Assad former Lebanese minister.

He also led an investigation that implicated Syria and Hezbollah, the powerful, predominantly Shia Muslim-backed group, in the assassination of Rafik al-Hariri, a former prime minister, in 2005.

Funeral speeches

Thousands of people had filled Martyrs' Square for Hassan's funeral ceremony on Sunday, accusing Syria of involvement in the killing and calling for Mikati to quit.

One banner read "Go, go Najib" echoing the slogans of the Arab Spring.

The violence broke out after Fouad al-Siniora, a former prime minister, said in a speech that the opposition rejected any dialogue to overcome the political crisis caused by the assassination unless the government first resigned.

Siniora, parliamentary chief for Saad Hariri, said the "government is responsible for the crime that killed Wissam and his chauffeur. That is why he must go".

"Mikati, you cannot stay in your post to cover up this crime," he said. "If you stay, it means you agree with what happened and what will happen."

"No talks before the government leaves, no dialogue over the blood of our martyrs," Siniora said to roars of approval from the crowd.

At the start of the funeral, senior politicians and the military and security top brass turned out at the ISF headquarters for a ceremony held with full military honours and broadcast live on national television.

Hassan's wife and two sons, the youngest weeping, listened as he was eulogised by the head of police, Ashraf Rifi, and President Michel Suleiman.

President's appeal

Suleiman said the government and people must work "shoulder to shoulder" to overcome the challenges posed by the killing.

"I tell the judiciary do not hesitate, the people are with you, and I tell the security be firm, the people are with you, with you," he said.
Lebanese commentator Kamel Wazne discusses latest crisis

"And I tell the politicians and the government do not provide cover to the perpetrator."

In keeping with custom for state funerals, church bells pealed as police officers carried the flag-draped coffins of Hassan and his bodyguard to the mosque on Martyrs' Square through chanting crowds.

Muslim prayers were broadcast by loudspeaker from the mosque.

In the build-up to the funeral, people in Beirut had said they saw Syria's hand in the bombing.

After a solemn military farewell at the headquarters of the ISF, the body of Hassan was transported to Martyrs' Square along with that of his chauffeur.

They and a third person were killed and 126 people wounded when the powerful bomb exploded on Friday in the upmarket mostly Christian neighbourhood of Ashrafiyeh.

After the funeral at the Al-Amine Mosque, Hassan was to be buried in the mausoleum of his mentor, Rafik al-Hariri.

It was Hariri's death, in which a Hassan-led investigation pointed the finger at Syria, that led to an outcry which forced Syrian troops to withdraw from Lebanon after three decades of domination.

Focus of anger

Mikati, who was a focus of anger at the funeral, said on Saturday he had offered to resign to make way for a government of national unity but he had accepted a request by Suleiman to stay in office.

He explained that this was to allow time for talks on a way out of the political crisis.

"That's the biggest lie I've ever heard. For a while there would be a period of chaos, like any fall of government, but we are willing to go through that in order to get some change," Omar, one of protesters in central Beirut on Sunday, told Al Jazeera.

Sunday's events highlighted how the 19-month-old uprising against Assad in Syria has exacerbated deep-seated sectarian tensions in Lebanon, which is still scarred from its 1975-90 civil war.

Sunni-led rebels are fighting to overthrow Assad, who is from the Alawite minority, which has its roots in Shia Islam.

Lebanon's religious communities are divided between those that support Assad and those that back the rebels.

Mikati sought in vain to insulate the country from turmoil in its larger neighbour, which has long played a role in Lebanese politics.

He himself has said he suspects Hassan's assassination is linked to his role in uncovering Syrian involvement in the August bomb plot.

Source: Al Jazeera And Agencies