BEIRUT, Jan 25: Lebanon’s top anti-terrorism investigator was slain along with three other people in a powerful car bombing that ripped through a neighbourhood of eastern Beirut on Friday, officials said.

Captain Wissam Eid, 31, a member of the Internal Security Forces (ISF), and his bodyguard were killed along with two civilians, a security official told AFP. He said 38 other people were wounded, with nine taken to hospital.

“Eid was a key member of the ISF and was involved in many investigations related to terrorist bombings in Lebanon in recent years,” the official said.

“He was involved in sensitive probes and this is a major loss for us.” The official added that Eid had in February 2006 narrowly escaped another attempt on his life when someone threw a grenade in front of his Beirut home.

Another official from the ruling majority said Eid was on his way back from a meeting of the UN commission investigating the 2005 assassination of former premier Rafiq Hariri when he was killed.—AFP