Lebanese forces set up road blocks boosting security in the capital as thousands descended for the public funeral on Sunday, according to AFP.

Wissam al-Hassan, the intelligence chief of the Internal Security Forces (ISF) targeted Friday, had headed an investigation that led to the Aug. 9 arrest of former Information Minister Michel Samaha, one of Assad’s most loyal allies in Lebanon who was recently accused of trying to smuggle explosives into Lebanon from Syria, according to Al Arabiya.

Al-Hassan had also led an investigation that implicated Syria and its Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, in the assassination of former PM Rafiq al-Hariri.

Thousands of supporters of Lebanon’s opposition March 14 coalition poured into Beirut for today’s funeral of an assassinated security official and for a “day of rage” against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Saad al-Hariri, leader of the opposition, urged all of Lebanon to attend the funeral in central Beirut.

Lebanon is divided between those that support Assad’s regime and those that back the rebels seeking his overthrow in the country’s bloody 20-month conflict.

The March 14 alliance called on Lebanon’s government to resign over the attack, which it blamed on the Syrian regime. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Saturday that he offered his resignation but that President Michel Suleiman asked him to stay on for a “period of time”, according to Naharet.

Friday’s blast, which also wounded at least 80 people, drew worldwide condemnation ,  as French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Sunday on French TV that Syria was probably involved in the Ashrafiyeh car bombing that killed Intelligence Bureau chief Maj. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan and at least three other people.

Omran al-Zohbi, the Syrian information minister, also condemned the “terrorist, cowardly” attack as he said.

However, both Saad Hariri and Walid Jumblatt, the influential Druze leader, accused al-Assad of being behind the bombing.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon contacted on Saturday Prime Minister Najib Miqati to express his “solidarity with the Lebanese people” after the assassination al-Hasan.

Wissam al-Hassan, the intelligence chief of the Internal Security Forces (ISF) targeted Friday, had headed an investigation that led to the Aug. 9 arrest of former Information Minister Michel Samaha, one of Assad’s most loyal allies in Lebanon who was recently accused of trying to smuggle explosives into Lebanon from Syria, according to Al Arabiya.

The ISF was also deeply involved in seeking the arrest of those responsible for a series of attacks and assassinations between 2005 and 2008, including the murder of Rafik al-Hariri.

At least eight people have been killed and dozens wounded by a huge car bomb that exploded in a street in central Beirut, according to Lebanese state news agency, in the worst blast the city has seen in years on Friday.

Ambulances rushed to the scene of the blast near Sassine Square in Ashrafiyeh, a mostly Christian area, as smoke rose from the area. It occurred during rush hour, when many parents were picking up children from school, according to Reuters.

An Associated Press reporter at the scene saw bloodied victims being loaded in ambulances and heavy damage to residential buildings.

Security forces were deployed in large numbers in the area.

The attack comes two days after Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN-Arab envoy peace to Syria warned “that you cannot expect the Syrian crisis to remain within Syrian borders”.

Lebanon has seen a rise in tension and eruptions of clashes stemming from the civil war in neighboring Syria.

No one has taken responsibility for the attack.