Wissam al-Hassan
وسام الحسن
Journeys
The Man Who Caught Syria's Bomb-Smuggler — and Paid With His Life
Lebanon's most effective counter-Syria intelligence chief caught a pro-Assad minister red-handed with explosives in August 2012 — then was killed by a Beirut car bomb two months later in an assassination attributed to Syria and Hezbollah.
Wissam al-Hassan: Lebanon's Last Line Against Syrian Intelligence
Wissam al-Hassan's intelligence work had exposed multiple Syrian-backed plots against Lebanon. His killing on October 19, 2012 removed the person most likely to expose further operations. The timing — as Syria's civil war intensified and as pressure on Hezbollah to stay out mounted — was not coincidental.
Biography
Wissam Adnan al-Hassan was a brigadier general at the Lebanese Internal Security Forces (ISF) and the head of its intelligence-oriented Information Branch. Seen as a leading Sunni figure in Lebanon, he was also a key player in the opposition March 14 alliance without having a political position.