Syrian National Council: Assad Regime, its Lebanese Followers Assassinated Hasan

The Syrian National Council accused on Friday the “criminal regime” of Syrian President Bashar Assad of assassinating Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau head Brigadier General Wissam al-Hasan.

It said in a statement: “We know very well those who are behind these criminal acts and for whom they are being done for.”

“They are no doubt Assad's regime and its followers in Lebanon,” it added.

“After the failure of its daily incursions along the Syrian-Jordanian border and launching tens of rockets in Turkey, the regime sought out its reserve of hired killers in Lebanon” and assassinated Wissam al-Hasan, said the opposition Syrian National Council.

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.