Thousands gather for Beirut funeral of slain security chief

Thousands of mourners gathered in central Beirut on Sunday for the funeral of slain internal security chief Wissam al-Hassan, a ceremony likely to become a rally against Syrian authorities.

General al-Hassan, a prominent figure opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, died when a powerful bomb exploded in an upmarket Beirut suburb on Friday, sparking angry calls for Prime Minister Najib Mikati and his government to quit.

(Photo courtesy Al Arabiya)

The slain police intelligence chief is to be buried late afternoon in Beirut alongside the grave of his mentor, former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, whose 2005 assassination sparked an outcry that forced Syrian troops to withdraw from Lebanon after three decades of occupation.

Lebanese politicians have accused Syria's leadership of having a role in the assassination, which deepened fears the civil war there is spreading beyond its borders.

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Lebanese city’s Syrian war spillover intensifies

The shooting of Sheikh Khalid Al Baradei, who led a small militia, shattered the ceasefire between two neighbourhoods in Tripoli, where the conflict in Syria has reignited old tensions.

Two men were killed as the violence worsened between fighters from the Sunni Bab Al Tabbaneh neighbourhood and those from the hilltop, Alawite community of Jabal Mohsen.
That took the death toll over the past five days to 16.
Najib Mikati, the Lebanese prime minister, said yesterday that he had authorised the army "to bring the situation under control, to prohibit any armed presence and to arrest those implicated".
But militias in Bab Al Tabbaneh continued to stroll down Syria Street with their weapons in full view of Lebanese soldiers.

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Lebanese Olympic judo team refuses to practice next to Israelis

The Lebanese judo team at the 2012 London Olympics refused to practice next to the Israeli one on Friday afternoon, and a makeshift barrier was erected to split their gym into two halves.

According to several Hebrew sports sites, the two teams were scheduled to use the same gym and mats at London’s new ExCeL center for their final preparations. However, the delegation from Lebanon would not train in view of the Israeli team, and insisted some sort of barrier be placed between them.

Organizers accepted the Lebanese coach’s demand to separate the teams, erecting a barrier so that the Lebanese team wouldn’t see the Israeli one.

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Syria's fighting spills into Lebanon, five killed

(Reuters) - Syria's conflict spilled further into Lebanon on Saturday when mortar fire from President Bashar al-Assad's forces hit villages in the north, killing five people after rebels crossed the border to seek refuge, residents said.
Rebels fighting to unseat Assad have used north Lebanon as a base and his forces have at times bombed villages and even pursued insurgents over the border, threatening to stoke tension in Lebanon, whose sectarian divisions mirror those in Syria.
Residents of Lebanon's Wadi Khaled region said several mortar bombs hit farm buildings five to 20 km (3 to 12 miles) from the border at around 2 a.m. At midday villagers reported more explosions and said they heard gunfire close to the border.
In the village of al-Mahatta, a house was destroyed, killing a 16-year-old girl and wounding a two-year old and a four-year old, family members told Reuters. A 25-year-old woman and a man were killed in nearby villages, residents said.
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