Hariri urges protestors to end violence

Lebanon's Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri urged protestors to end clashes with security forces  after thousands attended the funeral of security chief Wissam al-Hassan, who was killed by a car bomb on Friday. Protesters had been trying to storm the government headquarters after a new call for Prime Minister Najib Mikat  to resign. The mourners marched on Leb Mikati's offices in central Beirut on Sunday, breaking through an outer security barrier and scuffling with police who fired tear gas in response. "Mikati leave, get out," chanted hundreds of protesters following the funeral of a slain intelligence chief. They also chanted slogans against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who they accused of being behind the killing of Hassan. On Saturday Hassan's wife and children flew back to Beirut from Paris, where he had taken them for safety. His wife Anna was in tears as she arrived at the Beirut Rafik Hariri International Airport with sons Mazen, 17, and Majed, 12. Urging people to withdraw from the streets Hariri, the Future Movement leader, said: “We are not seekers of violence ... I urge all my supporters to end the sit-in and leave the streets.” Violence erupted in the northern city of Tripoli,  where four people were wounded by sniper fire as fears continued over the possibility of renewed clashes between opponents and supporters of President Bashar al-Assad. A hand grenade also exploded in the Bab al-Tabbanah neighborhood of Lebanon’s Tripoli. It's unclear if anyone was injured. Citizens across the country have been blocking major roads and highways to protest Hassan’s killing in a bomb blast in Beirut’s Ashrafieh, which killed eight people and injured scores of others.