A prominent Lebanese legislator and his wife were killed late on Sunday when their car skidded into the central barrier of a highway in heavy rain, police said. Ali Youssef Khalil, who was in his 70s, was chairman of the parliament's foreign affairs committee and represented Lebanon's southern province. A former Cabinet minister, Khalil supported the government during the current crisis over Syria's troops in Lebanon and the investigation of former prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri's assassination. Khalil's son and driver survived the crash on the coastal highway near Khalde, south of Beirut. A police officer said the driver apparently lost control on the wet road and skidded into the concrete and steel barrier dividing the two sides of the highway. The car was wrecked.
| I think I saw that scene in a movie once... Or twice... |
A Shia Muslim, Khalil belonged to the parliamentary bloc of Speaker Nabih Berri. He served many terms in parliament, having first been elected before Lebanon's civil war of 1975-90. |