Al-Hariri funeral today, Khaddam takes part

Normal life stopped in Lebanon yesterday mourning the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister Rafic Hariri by a booby trapped car in Beirut on Monday that resulted in killing 14 persons including seven of his guards and hundreds were injured.

The streets of the capital and the Lebanese cities were empty from the passers by and schools, and shops and public and private establishments were closed marking the beginning of an official mourning for three days, while the opposition called for a parallel general strike.

The Lebanese army was put on a state of alert and was deployed around government buildings and at crossroads in the Lebanese capital and on foot patrols were run.

An official funeral will be held for al-Hariri today. A source close to the former Lebanese prime minister said that the funeral procedures will be held from Muhammad al-Amin mosque in the downtown of Beirut. He added that Hariri's family does not want the Lebanese authority to take part in the funeral.

Meantime, the Syrian Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam arrived in Beirut on Tuesday to take part in the condolences and funeral of the late Hariri.

Hariri's assassination has brought Lebanon into a political crisis, recalling the bitter memories of the civil war which burst in the country between 1975- 1990.