A funeral was held on Wednesday afternoon in Baalbek for Hezbollah leader Hajj Hassan Hawlo Al-Laqis who was assassinated late on Tuesday outside his residence in the Sainte Therese neighborhood in Al-Hadath while he was on his way back from work.
On Wednesday morning, Hezbollah said one of its leaders, Hajj Hassan Hawlo Al-Laqis, was assassinated on Tuesday overnight outside his residence South Beirut’s Al-Hadath region, noting that Al-Laqis had served the Resistance throughout this life.
In a statement issued by the party’s press office, Hezbollah accused Israel of carrying out the assassination, adding that Al-Laqis had previously survived various assassination attempts.
Sources revealed to LBCI that 4 men ambushed al-Laqis in the parking of the building where he resides, shooting him while he was still in his car.
The sources added that the car of al-Laqis is a green Cherokee with plate number 258251/m.
Sources also reported that Al-Laqis was hit by seven bullets, five in the head and two in the chest.
The body of al-Laqis was transported to the Al Rasul Al Aazam Hospital while members from Hezbollah cordoned off the region.
Later on, the Ahrar al Sunna brigade - Baalbek said on its twitter page it was behind the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hajj Hassan Hawlo Al-Laqis.
Another group dubbed "Katibat Ansar Al Oumma Al Islamya" also claimed responsibility for the assassination on its Facebook page, accusing Al-Laqis of being responsible for Al Qusayr massacres.
Al-Laqis' killing came almost an hour after Hezbollah Chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah ended a three-hour interview with a local television station, in which he accused Saudi Arabia of being behind the twin bombings that targeted the Iranian Embassy in Beirut last month.
Hezbollah has fought several wars against Israel. Al-Laqis' son died fighting Israel in the monthlong 2006 war. Israel's spy service has been suspected of assassinating Hezbollah commanders for more than two decades.
REACTIONS:
President Michel Sleiman said on Wednesday that the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Hawlo Al-Laqis was part of an Israeli plot which aims to fuel sectarian tension and undermine Lebanon's security and civil peace.
He also requested from acting State Prosecutor Judge Samir Hammoud to exert tireless efforts to uncover the assailants and bring them to justice.
In turn, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati called for intensive investigations in order to bring the assailants to justice, noting that the attack is a new attempt to create sedition and to undermine security and stability.
As well, Future bloc head MP Fouad Siniora and National Struggle Front leader MP Walid Jumblatt denounced the assassination of Al-Laqis.
"I condemn the political assassination in principle as well as all previous explosions and terrorist acts that rocked Beirut's Southern Suburbs and the widespread violence in Tripoli," Jumblatt said.
For his part, caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel denounced the attack as a criminal act, adding that it aims to foment sedition and destabilize the country.
International reactions:
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor denied any involvement.
"Israel has nothing to do with this incident," Palmor said. "These automatic accusations are an innate reflex with Hezbollah. They don't need evidence, they don't need facts, they just blame anything on Israel."
This as, the Syrian government condemned the assassination of Al-Laqis, holding Israel fully responsible for the incident.
In turn, the Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Ghadanfar Roken Abadi sent a letter to Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and to the Resistance's leadership.
"Such cowardly acts undertaken by the Zionist enemy and its agents will only make the Resistance more adamant on achieving its goals by eliminating this entity," the Ambassador said.
AP/LBCI
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