Lebanese army deployed after gunbattles in Tripoli Beirut – Georges Chahine Lebanese President Michel Samaha has referred the assassination of General Wissam al-Hassan and the other car bomb victims to the judicial council. Judge Nabil Wahbe was assigned to investigate the case after Prime Minister Najib Mikati referred the case to the judicial council and submitted it to President Suleiman. The car bombing killed head of intelligence at the ISF, Wissam al-Hassan, on Friday and injured seven others when it ripped through a predominantly Christian area of Beirut.
Lebanese security is reporting continued fighting on the streets of Tripoli following the explosion. Two injuries were reported in Tripoli on Tuesday following an exchange of fire with the army.
Lebanese PM Najib Mikati met Catherine Ashton, the European Union's high representative for Foreign Affairs & Security Policy, to discuss the repercussions of Ashrafieh explosion and cooperation with the EU.
In the meeting Ashton offered her condolences to Mikati and expressed concerns about the stability of Lebanon.
Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Michel Aoun said several armed groups were arrested in Beirut, all of foreign nationalities. Among them were 70 Palestinians and 30 Syrians in Jadida and its surroundings.
Aoun refused to dissolve parliament saying it has nothing to do with the explosion.
He said: “What does the murder of General al-Hassan have to do with the parliament now? And what does the crime have to do with the election law, the balance and the ranks and salaries? Can anyone tell me what does all of this have to do with the crime and justify it? Of course not.”