LEBANON: Lebanon's former prime minister, the late Rafik Hariri, has been named as the recipient of the 2005 Tipperary International Peace Award. Mr Hariri was assassinated in Beirut on February 14th last in an explosion which targeted his motorcade. At least least nine other people were killed and 100 more wounded.
Last month Detlev Mehlis, the outgoing head of the UN team investigating the assassination, said he believed Syria was behind the murder.
Announcing the peace award yesterday, World Day of Peace, the Tipperary Peace Convention said in declaring Mr Hariri the recipient for 2005 it recognised the close relationship between Ireland and Lebanon which had arisen through the many years there of peacekeeping duties by the Irish Defence Forces.
It said Mr Hariri had made many sacrifices to promote a culture of peace and prosperity and to bring a torn society together again following the devastation of war. It said the reconstruction of Lebanon following the 1975-1990 war had been compared to Europe's reconstruction after the second World War and was a tribute to Mr Hariri's visionary leadership.
The award will be presented at a ceremony in Tipperary next April. Mr Hariri's name will be added to a list of recipients including former South African president Nelson Mandela, the late senator Gordon Wilson, Goal founder John O'Shea, Bob Geldof and former US president Bill Clinton.