Syria's civil war spills over into Lebanon

Mona Alami Special for USA TODAY | USATODAY

BEIRUT — Gunmen and Lebanese security forces clashed Monday around many Beirut neighborhoods for the second night in a row as violence from the civil war in Syria appeared to spill over into its neighboring country.

Lebanese soldiers in armored vehicles tried to break up civilian roadblocks and chase gunmen off the streets after the assassination of a prominent security chief who was an opponent of Syrian involvement in Lebanon.

Clashes killed at least five people. Heavy gunfire took place in neighborhoods until the Lebanese army restored calm Monday night.

"Continuous gunbattles could spread to the rest of Lebanon," said Sunni Sheik Bilal Dokmak. "There is an increasing participation of [hard-line] Salafists in the Tripoli clashes. They have also taken to the streets in Beirut, but in very small numbers. However, the absence of the state is not helping."

Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan was killed by a car bomb Friday in Beirut, sparking violence between supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad and his opponents.

Hassan's supporters, many of them Sunni Muslims, blamed Syria for the killing. Many Sunnis called for the resignation of the Hezbollah-dominated government, saying it is too friendly toward the Syrian regime.

As the head of the intelligence unit in the Internal Security Forces, Hassan led an investigation that implicated Syria and its Lebanese allies Hezbollah in the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri in 2005.

More recently, Hassan played a central role in the arrest in August of former Information minister Michel Samaha, who was charged with planning terrorist attacks in Lebanon at the behest of Syrians. The anti-Syria March 14 movement quickly accused Assad's regime of orchestrating the Hassan killing.

"The assassination of Gen. Hassan is definitely linked to Syria," said Beirut analyst Hazem al-Amine. "The security officer was an obstacle for many of Syria's plans for Lebanon as well as those of its local proxies."

Monday, Lebanese Shiites and Alawites battled Sunnis who are fighting the Assad regime in Syria. Shiites and Alawites tend to side with the Alawite Assad regime, and Sunnis generally support the popular uprising in Syria.

On the day of Hassan's funeral, Sunni Sheik Osama al-Rifai urged people to "stop crying like women and take out your swords." Several people tried storming the Grand Serail, the seat of the Lebanese government, headed by pro-Syrian factions, after several prominent Sunni figures called on Premier Najib Miqati to resign.

That attack led to the start of a gunfight between the police and demonstrators. Anissa Rafeh, a Lebanese blogger who attended the anti-Assad rally after Hassan's funeral, expressed disappointment at the way the protest devolved into violence.

"There were more Islamic and political flags than Lebanese flags.The initial spirit of the March 14 movement seems to be dead, and those who remain are religious fanatics or people blindly allied to political leaders," she said.