27 December 2013
The former Lebanese Finance Minister Mohamad Chatah has been assassinated in a big bomb blast in central Beirut.
He was an adviser to the former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, a Sunni Muslim.
Four others were also killed in the suspected car bombing near government offices and the parliament. At least 50 people were injured.
The Syrian war has increased Lebanon's Sunni-Shia tensions. Lebanon's Shia Hezbollah movement is helping Syria's President Bashar al-Assad.
President Assad comes from the Alawite sect, a heterodox offshoot of Shia Islam.
The Beirut blast damaged several buildings near the Phoenicia Hotel and set several cars ablaze.
Dozens of people were reported injured. Reports say Mr Chatah's car was targeted as he was travelling to a meeting with his Sunni opposition parliamentary bloc.
Some of the Syrian rebel groups are affiliated with the Sunni Muslim al-Qaeda network.
Iran, which backs Hezbollah, saw its embassy in Beirut attacked last month.
Mr Chatah became finance minister in 2008. After Saad Hariri lost the premiership in early 2011 Mr Chatah served as his senior adviser.
