Zaher al-Khatib, former MP and minister, dies at age 85

Former MP and minister Zaher al-Khatib died Tuesday at the age of 85, the state-run National News Agency (NNA) announced. He was elected Sunni MP for Iqlim al-Kharroub, in the Chouf, during the 1990s and was appointed minister of state in 1990.

The Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) issued a statement mentioning the death of "national activist Zaher al-Khatib," who had "a long career as a parliamentarian, trade unionist and politician, with a history of defending national causes and social justice."

“Even though we had differences of opinion with him on several occasions, he was nevertheless long active in the ranks of the PSP.” The statement recalled that “the deceased was a longtime advocate for progressive politics,” noting "a family legacy, as his father, the late MP Anwar al-Khatib, was one of the main parliamentary and political figures of the PSP alongside the martyr Kamal Joumblatt."