A prominent Lebanese security official is among the dead in a car bombing in the capital Beirut. Wissam al-Hassan, intelligence chief of the Internal Security Forces (ISF), was the brain behind uncovering a recent bomb plot that led to the arrest of Michel Samaha, a Lebanese politician close to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has been accused of trying to help smuggle explosives into Lebanon. The ISF was also deeply involved in seeking the arrest of those responsible for a host of attacks and assassinations between 2005 and 2008, starting with the murder of Rafik al-Hariri. Following the attack, clashes occured in the northen city of Tripoli between the rival districts of Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh, leaving one person killed. Jabal Mohsen is resided by mostly Alawites supportive of Assad, while Bab al-Tabbaneh is a Sunni area. Al Jazeera’s Caroline Malone wraps up the developments.
