Stolen car used in Beirut's bombing, says police chief

Senior intelligence officer’s killing on Friday is driving up political tensions in Lebanon

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s police chief says the car used in the Beirut bombing that killed a top anti-Syrian intelligence chief was stolen more than a year ago.

Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi also told a group of journalists late Monday that Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan was using a rented car that was not armored for camouflage.

Rifi said al-Hassan was killed while on his way back from one of his secret offices where he used to meet with informants.

Al-Hassan’s killing in a Beirut car bomb on Friday has driven up political tensions and sparked violence between supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad and his opponents.

Al-Hassan was solidly in the latter group, and his supporters, many of them Sunni Muslims, blamed Damascus for the killing.