Lebanon will observe Monday a day of national mourning on the occasion of the funeral of former French President Jacques Chirac, announced Friday the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
EDITORIAL - Jacques Chirac's shoots on the international scene
Prime Minister Saad Hariri issued a circular to this effect as a tribute to the "friend of Lebanon," according to the National News Agency (ANI). "The flags will be lowered (...) and modified television and radio programs".
Local press pays tribute to former president
The former French head of state had particularly strong ties with Lebanon and his former Prime Minister, the billionaire Rafic Hariri killed in an attack in Beirut in 2005.
Thursday, Saad Hariri, son of Rafic Hariri, paid a vibrant tribute to Jacques Chirac, calling him a "political giant." He said he felt "a very great sadness", the one "that I felt when I lost my father". "The friend of the difficult days" has titled Friday the front page of the French-Lebanese daily L'Orient-Le Jour , recalling the battle "beaks and nails" led by Jacques Chirac to help Lebanon to "free" of "tutelage" Syrian ".
"Jacques Chirac, the man of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (...)", wrote the oldest Arabic-language daily in the country, Annahar . Jacques Chirac played a key role in the creation of the Special Tribunal to investigate the assassination of Rafik Hariri and other Lebanese personalities opposed to the Syrian regime.