Lebanese politician Nassib Lahoud dies

Nassib Lahoud, head of Lebanon’s Democratic Renewal Party and a leading figure in the March 14 coalition, has died at the age of 67 early on Thursday morning after a long struggle with cancer. Lahoud died at dawn at Hotel Dieu Hospital in Ashrafieh, Beirut. The 67-year-old was educated and spent the major part of his life in the UK After finishing his engineering studies, he founded Lahoud Engineering Co. Ltd. (in the early 1970s), whose activities are mostly the construction of large-scale power and heavy industry plants. His backstage participation in the Taif conference in Saudi Arabia, which ended the destructive Lebanese civil war, made him ambassador to the US, where he enjoyed high-level relationships with leading American politicians. In 1991, he returned to Lebanon and was appointed Maronite Christian parliamentarian of the Metn region. He was later re-elected in the organised legislative elections in 1992, 1996 and in 2000. He was part of the Lahoud family, one of the most prominent Lebanese-Christian political families. The funeral will be held on Saturday in Saint George Maronite Cathedral in Beirut.