Lebanon was thrown into renewed instability on Monday after Rafiq Hariri, a former prime minister and architect of the country's reconstruction, was killed in a massive car bomb explosion. Mr Hariri, a billionaire businessman who led Lebanon for most of its post-civil war years, died in hospital after his motorcade was hit by a bomb, leaving several aides and bodyguards also dead.

A moderate Arab leader with close ties to Jacques Chirac, French president, Mr Hariri had been seen by the international community as a force for stability in a fragile country under the effective control of Syria.