Diplomatic reactions follow the burial of Brig. Gen. Hassan

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius accused on Sunday Syria in the possible involvement of the Beirut explosion that targeted and killed ISF Information Branch General Wissam Hassan.            

Talking to the French Radio Station “Europe 1” Fabius said that Syria is "trying to expand its tragedy," accusing President Bashar Assad of spilling the crisis into Syria’s neighboring countries.           

Meanwhile, a chain of international reactions followed as President Michel Sleiman received a call from the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon condemning the "criminal act that targeted Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan." Ban praised the efforts deployed by the President to preserve general stability in Lebanon, hoping that the Sleiman remain in place alongside the government in order to protect the country.              

Egyptian President Mohammad Morsi also called his Lebanese counterpart, denouncing the crime and hoping that Lebanon's stability will be preserved.               

Sleiman also received a call from the Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai who condemned the crime and offered his condolences.                       

Rai also called former PM Saad Hariri, offering his deepest condolences on the"martyrdom of General Wissam Hassan," and discussed perilous developments in Lebanon and the region.                   

For his part, Change and Reform bloc MP Michel Aoun said during a press conference he held at his residence in Rabieh, "Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan is a martyr of all Lebanon and his assassination must not be exploited negatively by political parties."                 

In turn, the head of the Lebanese Democratic Party MP Talal Erslan stressed that "Brig. Gen. Wissam Hassan must be