BEIRUT (Reuters) – Violence erupted in downtown Beirut on Sunday as protesters tried to storm the offices of Prime Minister Najib Mikati after the funeral of an assassinated intelligence chief whose death they blame on Syria.

Security forces shot into the air and police fired tear gas to repulse the hundreds of protesters who overturned barriers and threw stones and steel rods, witnesses said.

BEIRUT, Oct 21 (Reuters) – Thousands of people gathered in
central Beirut on Sunday for the funeral of an assassinated
senior intelligence officer, accusing Syria of involvement in
the killing and calling for Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati
to quit.

Heavily armed troops and police stood guard as people
flocked to Martyrs’ Square in central Beirut.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Thousands of people gathered in central Beirut on Sunday for the funeral of an assassinated senior intelligence officer, accusing Syria of involvement in the killing and calling for Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati to quit.

Heavily armed troops and police stood guard as people flocked to Martyrs’ Square in central Beirut.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Saturday he suspected the assassination of a senior Lebanese intelligence chief was linked to his role in uncovering Syrian involvement in an earlier bomb plot.

As fear and anger gripped Lebanon over Friday’s car bomb attack, Mikati also said the president had asked him to stay in his post despite his offer to resign and make way for a national unity government.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Saturday he had been asked by the president to stay in his post as fear and anger over the assassination of a senior intelligence chief opposed to the Syrian leadership gripped the country.

Mikati told a news conference in the presidential palace that he had offered his resignation to President Michel Suleiman to make way for a government of national unity, but had been asked to remain in office for the time being.

BEIRUT, Oct 15 (Reuters) – International peace envoy Lakhdar
Brahimi appealed to Iran to help arrange a ceasefire in Syria
during the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha as rebels and
government forces fought street by street and village by village
on Monday.

Brahimi made the request in talks with Iranian leaders on
Sunday in Tehran, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s closest
regional ally in his campaign to crush a 19-month-old uprising.

BEIRUT/AMMAN (Reuters) – Turkey has banned all Syrian aircraft from its air space as it takes an increasingly firm stance against President Bashar al-Assad, while Syrian rebels said on Sunday they had made more gains in a key province near the Turkish border.

Human Rights Watch said Syrian government forces had dropped Russian-made cluster bombs over civilian areas in the past week as they battled to reverse rebel advances, an act which rights groups say can constitute a war crime.

BEIRUT/AMMAN, Oct 14 (Reuters) – Turkey has banned all
Syrian aircraft from its air space as it takes an increasingly
firm stance against President Bashar al-Assad, while Syrian
rebels said on Sunday they had made more gains in a key province
near the Turkish border.

Human Rights Watch said Syrian government forces had dropped
Russian-made cluster bombs over civilian areas in the past week
as they battled to reverse rebel advances, an act which rights
groups say can constitute a war crime.

BEIRUT/AMMAN (Reuters) – Syrian government forces have dropped Russian-made cluster bombs over civilian areas in the past week as they battle to reverse rebel gains on a strategic highway, Human Rights Watch said on Sunday.

Rebels surrounded an army garrison on Sunday near a northwestern town, in the latest push to seize more territory in a province near the Turkish border, opposition activists said. Rebels also posted video on the Internet purportedly showing a fighter jet they had shot down in the area the previous day.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syrian government forces have dropped Russian-made cluster bombs over civilian areas in the past week as they battle to reverse rebel gains on a strategic highway, Human Rights Watch said on Sunday.

The bombs were dropped from planes and helicopters, with many of the strikes taking place near the main north-south highway running through the northwestern town of Maarat al-Numan, HRW said in a report.