Wissam Eid (; 2 October 1976 – 25 January 2008) was a Lebanese police officer and senior intelligence official. He is best known for providing vital information about the

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

of Lebanese prime minister

Rafic Hariri Rafic Bahaa El Deen al-Hariri (; 1 November 1944 – 14 February 2005) was a Lebanese businessman and politician who served as Prime Minister of Lebanon, prime minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2000 to 2004. Hariri headed fi ...

to an international investigation on the assassination. However, Eid was assassinated by a

car bomb A car bomb, bus bomb, van bomb, lorry bomb, or truck bomb, also known as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), is an improvised explosive device designed to be detonated in an automobile or other vehicles. Car bombs can be roug ...

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

on 25 January 2008.

Biography

Eid was born 2 October 1976 in Deir Ammar, near

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis (from , meaning "three cities") may refer to: Places Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in the Pelasgiotis district, Thessaly, near Larissa ...

northern Lebanon North Lebanon () is the northern region of Lebanon comprising the North Governorate and Akkar Governorate. On 16 July 2003, the two entities were divided from the same province by former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The division was known as Law ...

. The son of an

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

in the Lebanese

Internal Security Forces The Internal Security Forces (; ; abbreviated ISF) are the national police and gendarmerie of Lebanon. Modern police were established in Lebanon in 1861, with the creation of a gendarmerie force. In April 2005, Ashraf Rifi became head of the I ...

(ISF), he studied in Tripoli, then obtained an engineering diploma in computer information systems from the

University of Balamand The University of Balamand (UOB; ) is a private institution, secular in its policies and approach to education. It welcomes faculty, students, and staff from all faiths and national or ethnic origins. The university is located in the northern di ...

in 1999. He was in charge of the technical aspect of the investigations into the attacks that occurred since 2004, and had provided important information to the international investigation into the

of the former prime minister

. According to the German news magazine ''

Der Spiegel (, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

,'' the evidence implicating Hezbollah which Eid uncovered, involved a number of cellphones purchased in

shortly before the assassination. These cellphones were used by members of Hezbollah solely for the coordination of the assassination, except for a call from one of them to his

girlfriend A girlfriend is a woman who is a friend, acquaintance or partner to the speaker, usually a female companion with whom one is platonically, romantically, or sexually involved. In a romantic context, this normally signifies a committed r ...

. Eid was assassinated himself before the conclusion of the investigation, though his work contributed greatly to the inquiry of the 2015 Special Tribunal of Lebanon.Ronen Bergman. (15 February 2015)
"The Hezbollah Connection"
''The New York Times Magazine''. Retrieved 5 August 2020. On 25 January 2008 at 10 a.m., a car bomb containing an explosive charge of at least 50kg of explosives, detonated and killed Eid, despite him being in an armored vehicle. The bombing also killed his bodyguard and two civilians, and injured dozens of people. The attack occurred in the suburb of Hazmiyeh. Even though he was a Lebanese police officer, the investigation of his assassination was never concluded. Sources have managed to link his assassination to

Unit 121 Unit 121 is Lebanese militant organization Hezbollah's covert assassination team reporting directly to the group's Secretary-General. The unit has allegedly conducted deadly car bombings targeting Lebanese military and political leaders and jou ...

and to Hussein al-Khalil that committed a large number of political assassinations in Lebanon.

References

External links

Captain Wissam Eid Was The Genius Who Crunched The Data

Hariri Tribunal Finds Hezbollah Operatives Guilty, Excuses Lebanese Terrorist Organization Itself
Foreign Policy Magazine; Oz Katerji, August 19, 2020.
Everything You Need To Know About The Exposed Cell Networks Behind Hariri’s Assassination
1976 births 2008 deaths University of Balamand alumni People from North Governorate Deaths by car bomb in Lebanon People murdered in Lebanon Terrorism deaths in Lebanon Lebanese terrorism victims {{Lebanon-bio-stub

Biography

See also

References

External links