Lebanon funeral ends in violence

Gunmen armed with rifles and rocket-propelled grenades have exchanged fire in southern districts of Lebanon's capital Beirut, security sources said, and residents could also hear the sound of ambulance sirens.

The clashes on Sunday night occurred after angry mourners tried to storm government offices in the centre of Beirut at the end of the funeral of an intelligence official assassinated on Friday.

Violence erupted after protesters tried to storm the offices of Najib Mikati, the prime minister, following the funeral of  Wissam al-Hassan, whose death they blame on Syria.

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

Wissam al-Hassan and seven other people were killed on Friday by a car bomb.

Clashes erupted after his funeral on Sunday, as protesters called on Mikati to quit. At least three people were killed overnight in Tripoli.

There were reports of further violence in southern and western Beirut overnight.

Opposition figures have blamed neighbouring Syria for the attack.

Protests have been held against Syria and its Lebanese allies, amid fears the conflict there could spill across the border.

Hassan, 47, was close to the 14 March opposition and the Hariri family, part of the anti-Syrian opposition.

The Syrian government condemned the attack, which also killed one of Hassan's bodyguards and a woman nearby. Earlier reports said as many as eight people died.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Lebanese PM Najib Mikati agreed to the joint probe in a phone call, said a US spokeswoman.

On Sunday, Clinton stressed "the United States' firm commitment to Lebanon's stability, independence, sovereignty and security," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said in a statement.

"She noted the importance of political leaders working together at this sensitive time to ensure that calm prevails and that those responsible for the attack are brought to justice," the statement added.

Hassan led an investigation into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, which implicated Damascus.

He also recently organised the arrest of a former minister accused of planning a Syrian-sponsored bombing campaign in Lebanon.

Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon in 2005 after a 29-year-long presence, in the wake of Hariri's killing.

Hassan was buried next to Hariri on Sunday.

Many mourners waved the light blue flag of the Sunni-based opposition Future Party, while others carried Lebanon's national flag.

Mikati says he offered to resign after the attack, but accepted a request from President Michel Suleiman to stay on in order to avoid a power vacuum.