Slain Lebanese ex-minister laid to rest
Iran Press TV
Mon Dec 30, 2013 10:59AM GMT
The body of former Lebanese Finance Minister Mohammad Shatah, who was killed in a recent bombing in the capital, Beirut, has been laid to rest, Press TV reports.
Thousands of people thronged the streets of Beirut on Sunday to attend the funeral ceremony of Shatah and pay their last tribute.
Shatah's body was buried next to late Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in Beirut's Martyr's Square. Hariri had himself been killed in a massive car bomb in 2005.
On December 27, at least eight people, including Shatah, were killed and over 70 others injured after a huge car bomb went off near the headquarters of Lebanon's March 14 Alliance and the parliament in Beirut.
Hundreds of the supporters of the Western-backed Lebanese alliance of March 14, led by former Premier Saad Hariri, also attended the funeral ceremony of Shatah.
Addressing the attendees, former Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora turned the funeral into a forum to send political messages, leveling accusations against the Lebanese resistance movement of Hezbollah.
In a Friday statement, Hezbollah strongly condemned the terrorist attack as a despicable crime and a "flagrant attempt to target the national stability and unity" of Lebanon.
Also on Sunday, tensions escalated as the funeral service of a teenage victim of the Friday attack turned into a scene of clashes between Future Bloc officials and Lebanese cleric Grand Mufti Mohammad Rashid Qabbani.
Hundreds gathered outside Khashuqji Mosque in the Beirut neighborhood of Qasqas for the funeral of Mohammad Shaar, 16, and chanted slogans against the mufti.
YH/NN/HJL
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