Heavy security measures were in place on Sunday around Beirut ahead of the burial of Mohammad Chatah, a prominent Lebanese critic of the Syrian regime, killed in a bombing two days ago.
Chatah, 62, a Sunni Muslim former finance minister and close aide to ex-prime minister Saad Hariri, was killed by a car bomb in the Lebanese capital on Friday along with six other people.
Dozens of other people were wounded in the blast, which officials said involved about 50-60 kilograms (110-132 pounds) of explosives.
President Michel Suleiman has declared Sunday a day of national mourning, and several army vehicles were stationed around Beirut’s downtown area, where Chatah was killed.
Cars have been forbidden from parking along main roads in the area during the funeral.
<span data-style="border-bottom: 1px solid #0000FF !important;text-decoration:underline !important;color:#0000FF !important">Chatah was seen as an influential figure in the 14 March coalition, which is opposed to the regime of <span data-style="border-bottom: 1px solid #0000FF !important;text-decoration:underline !important;color:#0000FF !important">Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and its Lebanese ally, Shiite movement Hezbollah. He is due to be interred at the mausoleum of Hariri’s father Rafiq, who was also killed in a huge suicide bombing on the Beirut seafront on 14 February, 2005, an assassination his supporters blamed on <span data-style="border-bottom: 1px solid #0000FF !important;text-decoration:underline !important;color:#0000FF !important">Syria.
The 14 March coalition has called for a high turnout at the funeral service, which will take place at the Mohamed al-Amin mosque next to <span data-style="border-bottom: 1px solid #0000FF !important;text-decoration:underline !important;color:#0000FF !important">Hariri’s mausoleum.
Friday’s attack revived <span data-style="border-bottom: 1px solid #0000FF !important;text-decoration:underline !important;color:#0000FF !important">painful memories of bombings that rocked the country between 2005 and 2012, targeting <span data-style="border-bottom: 1px solid #0000FF !important;text-decoration:underline !important;color:#0000FF !important">prominent figures critical of Damascus.
Chatah, 62, a Sunni Muslim former finance minister and close aide to ex-prime minister Saad Hariri, was killed by a car bomb in the Lebanese capital on Friday along with six other people.
Dozens of other people were wounded in the blast, which officials said involved about 50-60 kilograms (110-132 pounds) of explosives.
President Michel Suleiman has declared Sunday a day of national mourning, and several army vehicles were stationed around Beirut’s downtown area, where Chatah was killed.
Cars have been forbidden from parking along main roads in the area during the funeral.
<span data-style="border-bottom: 1px solid #0000FF !important;text-decoration:underline !important;color:#0000FF !important">Chatah was seen as an influential figure in the 14 March coalition, which is opposed to the regime of <span data-style="border-bottom: 1px solid #0000FF !important;text-decoration:underline !important;color:#0000FF !important">Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and its Lebanese ally, Shiite movement Hezbollah. He is due to be interred at the mausoleum of Hariri’s father Rafiq, who was also killed in a huge suicide bombing on the Beirut seafront on 14 February, 2005, an assassination his supporters blamed on <span data-style="border-bottom: 1px solid #0000FF !important;text-decoration:underline !important;color:#0000FF !important">Syria.
The 14 March coalition has called for a high turnout at the funeral service, which will take place at the Mohamed al-Amin mosque next to <span data-style="border-bottom: 1px solid #0000FF !important;text-decoration:underline !important;color:#0000FF !important">Hariri’s mausoleum.
Friday’s attack revived <span data-style="border-bottom: 1px solid #0000FF !important;text-decoration:underline !important;color:#0000FF !important">painful memories of bombings that rocked the country between 2005 and 2012, targeting <span data-style="border-bottom: 1px solid #0000FF !important;text-decoration:underline !important;color:#0000FF !important">prominent figures critical of Damascus.