From peasant to billionaire - the life and death of Hariri

Father-of-six Rafik Hariri, who died in a Beirut bomb blast today, was a business tycoon who became one of Lebanon’s most influential politicians and served as its prime minister for most of its post-civil war years. He was 60.

Hariri’s vast fortune – estimated at almost €3bn – allowed him to maintain an independent political posture without defying his country’s main powerbroker, Syria, which keeps about 15,000 troops in Lebanon and influences virtually all key political decisions.