As soon as the blast in Achrafieh went off, Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Head of the Progressive Socialist Party Walid Jumblat were swift to accuse Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad of standing behind the assassination of Gener

As soon as the blast in Achrafieh went off, Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Head of the Progressive Socialist Party Walid Jumblat were swift to accuse Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad of standing behind the assassination of General Wissam Al-Hasan.

Hariri said in a phone call on Future TV that he will not stay silent over this crime, stating that “Wissam Al-Hasan was a friend and a brother for late Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. He was a brother to all the Hariri family.”
“When the majority of the Lebanese gathered in “Martyrs’ Square” we faced them politically. We don’t own criminal security apparatuses like the opponent, which is the Syrian regime, does,” Jumlatt said.

In parallel, Head of the Lebanese Forces Samir Geagea considered that Al-Hasan was assassinated because he “arrested Michel Samaha”, adding that “our movement will not stop no matter what, and I will not say humanitarian words, I will rather say that we will continue… they are targeting all of us, today its Wissam Al-Hasan, later its someone else… but the movement will continue.”

March 14 alliance held an emergency meeting Friday night and issued a statement demanding Prime Minister Najib Miqati to resign.

“The government must leave and we call on Prime Minister Najib Miqati to resign immediately,” Secretary General of the Future party, Ahmad Hariri said.

“PM Najib Miqati is personally responsible for the blood of General Wissam Al-Hasan and the innocent victims,” he added.

Miqati’s circles questioned the March 14 forces' accusations against him. “Miqati had long defended Hasan when he was being subject to the most vicious political campaigns,” they remarked. They revealed that “internal and external contacts are being held for him to take the appropriate stance”. His circles told al-Liwaa newspaper that the premier will call on all sides to reach an agreement over the formation of a national salvation government aimed at confronting the division in Lebanon.

Several analysts said that the March 14 coalition’s pressure against Miqati is aimed at calling the government to resign and achieve “their real goal of becoming part of the cabinet where it can assume security portfolios.”