the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
contacted on Saturday Prime Minister
Najib Miqati to express his "solidarity with the Lebanese people" after the liquidation of Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau head Brigadier General Wissam al-Hasan.Ban "expressed strong solidarity with the people of Leb and commended the prime minister, the government and the president (Michel Suleiman
...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too...
) for their handling of the matter," the U.N. statement said.
Hasan killed in a massive car boom on Friday along with three other people, had himself returned to Leb the previous day.
He will be laid to rest on Sunday in the mausoleum of his mentor Hariri, who was assassinated in 2005.
Under Hasan, the ISF played a central role in the August arrest of Leb's former information minister Michel Samaha, who has close links to Damascus
...The capital of Iran's Syrian satrapy...
. He was charged with planning attacks to spark sectarian strife in Leb.