Crowds at Beirut funeral for anti-Syrian official

Beirut , October 22: Soldiers carried two flag-draped coffins through a central Beirut square on Sunday packed with thousands of Lebanese mourners who turned out for the funeral of a top intelligence official and his bodyguard.

The men were killed in a massive car bombing that many blame on the regime in neighbouring Syria.

Soldiers set up road blocks and cordoned off Martyrs Square, where the coffins of Brig Gen Wissam al-Hassan and his bodyguard were brought for burial.

"We came for Lebanon's future to show that we will not be scared," said Arama Fakhouri, an interior designer from Beirut in the cheering crowd.

Many people were shouting that al-Hassan was a martyr who was struck down while trying to protect Lebanon.

Al-Hassan, 47, was a powerful opponent of Syria in Lebanon. He headed an investigation over the summer that led to the arrest of former Information Minister Michel Samaha, a Lebanese politician who was one of Syria's most loyal allies in Lebanon.

He was among eight people killed in the attack on Friday.

"He was killed while he was defending his country," said Samer al-Hirri, who travelled from northern Lebanon to attend the funeral.

Ahead of the burial, there was a memorial ceremony attended by government officials and al-Hassan's wife Anna, his two sons, Majd and Mazen, and his parents.