Five-time Lebanese prime minister Salim Al Hoss, who served during some of the most tumultuous years of his country’s modern history, died on Sunday aged 94, the current premier said.
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati described Mr Hoss, who was also a former government minister and member of parliament, as the “conscience of Lebanon”, in a statement announcing his death.
Mr Mikati said Mr Al Hoss “passed away at the most difficult and delicate stage in which Lebanon needs its conscience”.
He was referring to fears that Lebanon could be pulled into a full-on war with Israel.
Lebanese militant group Hezbollah began attacking Israel a day after the start of the war in Gaza, which was started by the Hamas-led October 7 attack into southern Israel.
Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire almost daily since then, displacing tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border.
Mr Al Hoss “was a prominent economist and a role model for his expertise, ethics and knowledge", Mr Mikati said.
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Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, right, welcomes former Lebanese prime minister Salim Al Hoss in Damascus in December 2009. EPA/STR -
Mr Al Hoss arrives for the opening of Forum on Democracy, Development and Free Trade, in Doha, in April 2007. Reuters -
Lebanon's current Prime Minister Najib Mikati, left, with Mr Al Hoss in April 2005 in Beirut. Mr Mikati described Mr Al Hoss as the 'conscience of Lebanon'. AFP -
Mr Al Hoss in Beirut on March 18, 2005. Current Lebanese Prime Minister PM Najib Mikati announced Mr Al Hoss's death yesterday. EPA -
Mr Al Hoss and Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Ahmad Al Sabah, who was later to become his country's Emir, pose for a picture at Beirut International Airport in February 2000. AFP -
King Abdullah II of Jordan meets Mr Al Hoss in September 1999 in Beirut. AFP -
Mr Al Hoss reviews a guard of honour with Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar, at Beirut International Airport in July 1999. AFP -
UAE Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, speaks with Mr Al Hoss in March 1999 in Abu Dhabi. Wam / AFP -
Lebanese prime minister-designate Mr Al Hoss waves to his supporters as he arrives at his home in Beirut in December 1998. AFP
“He placed the country’s supreme interest and the interest of citizens above all considerations.”
The council of ministers has announced three days of mourning.
Former prime minister Saad Hariri echoed Mr Mikati's sentiments.
“Lebanon has lost a national figure, and Beirut has lost a dutiful son and a distinguished personality who devoted his life to the safety of its role,” Mr Hariri wrote in a post on X.
Mr Al Hoss was often described as a technocrat and widely respected as a rare statesman in a country marked by political and sectarian divisions.
Former adviser to the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Brigitte Khair-Mountain, said in a post on X: “I'm so sad that one of our rare statesmen who had integrity, love of country and humility has left us.”
“Lebanon sorely needs more men and women like PM Salim Al Hoss. It's a great loss for all – especially in our present times of turbulence and conflict.”
He served as prime minister for four terms during the country’s 15-year civil war between 1975 and 1990. His final term in office was from 1998 to 2000.
At one point, he presided over one of two duelling governments.
After the term of President Amin Gemayel ended in 1988 with no successor elected, Lebanon became ruled by two governments, one led by Michel Aoun in Maronite Christian east Beirut and another by Mr Al Hoss in Muslim west Beirut.
AP contributed to this report
