|
 |
| The national flag-draped coffin of
Lebanon's slain former prime minister Rafiq Hariri is carried to his final
resting place during his funeral in Beirut. Hariri was laid to rest after
frenzied Lebanese mourners mobbed the coffin of their former leader whose
slaying has raised fears for the future of a nation still haunted by
memories of civil war. (Photo: Xinhua/AFP) |
 |
| Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese mourners
gathered at the Mohamed Al Amin Mosque in the capital Beirut on Wednesday
to pay last tribute to former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri killed in a
suicide car bombing on Monday. (Photo:
Xinhua/AFP) |
BEIRUT, Feb. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese mourners
gathered at the Mohamed Al Amin Mosque in the capital Beirut on Wednesday to pay
last tribute to former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri killed in a suicide car
bombing on Monday.
Hariri was buried in the unfinished
mosque which he had financed after the mass funeral procession escorting an
ambulance carrying Hariri's coffin covered with national flag marched through
the main streets to the mosque in central Beirut.
French
President Jacques Chirac was due to arrive in Beirut on Wednesday to present his
condolences to the family of Hariri but appeared unlikely to attend the funeral
in time.
Among foreign dignitaries at the funeral were EU
foreign policy chief Javier Solana, US Assistant Secretary of State William
Burns and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa as well as other Arab and
European ministers.
Hariri, 60, died on Monday when his
motorcade was blown up by a suicide car bomber in western Beirut seafront. At
least 14 others were killed.
It was too early to say who
killed Hariri who resigned as prime minister last October though oppositions
held Syria and its allied Lebanese government responsible for Hariri's
murder.
The bombing has also led to renewed international
pressure led by the US and France for Syria to withdraw its 14,000 troops from
neighboring Lebanon. Enditem |