Former Lebanese PM Amin al-Hafez dies at 83

Former Lebanese Prime Minister Amin al-Hafez, who served a turbulent two-month term in 1973 before he was forced to resign, died on Monday. He was 83.

Al-Hafez died in a Beirut hospital after a long-running battle with an undisclosed chronic illness, medical officials said.

A Sunni Muslim, he was picked by then President Suleiman Franjieh to form a government in 1973. Although the prime minister's job is reserved for a Sunni under Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing system, Sunni religious leaders who opposed Franjieh refused to recognize the appointment. Al-Hafez was forced to resign about two months later.

The crisis, along with a battle between Lebanese troops and Palestinian guerrillas that year, contributed to the tensions that burst into all-out civil war in 1975. The sectarian conflict lasted 15 years and killed 150,000 people.

Al-Hafez later served as member of parliament, representing his hometown of Tripoli until 1996.

Prime Minister Fuad Saniora declared a three-day mourning period for al-Hafez, during which flags at government institutions will be flown at half-staff.

Al-Hafez will be buried in Tripoli, a port city in northern Lebanon, on Tuesday.