Lebanon’s outgoing Defence Minister Elias Murr was wounded on Tuesday morning in an explosion in a Christian suburb just north of the capital Beirut that also caused fatalities, the police said. Murr, the son-in-law of President Emile Lahoud and deputy prime minister, was taken to Serhal hospital, where an employee said his condition was ”good”.
Former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, killed in a massive blast in Beirut on Monday, was a self-made billionaire who led his country’s reconstruction efforts after the devastating 1975 to 1990 civil war. Long regarded as the great political survivor, Hariri headed five governments before finally stepping down in October last year.
Militarily weak, threatened with sanctions and bordered by neighbours who are hostile or under US influence, Syria has chosen diplomacy in response to a weekend Israeli air strike on its territory.
