Hariri Declares Day of Mourning for 'Friend' Chirac

Lebanon is to hold a day of mourning Monday following the death of former French president Jacques Chirac, the country's leader announced.

Flags will be flown at half-mast to honour a "friend of Lebanon", according to a statement by Prime Minister Saad Hariri published by state-run National News Agency.

The former French leader had strong links with Lebanon and its former premier, the billionaire Rafiq Hariri, who was assassinated in Beirut in 2005.

Saad Hariri said Thursday he felt the same sadness at Chirac's death as "when I lost my father."

Chirac played a key role in the creation of a special tribunal to investigate the killing of Rafiq Hariri and other Lebanese opponents of the Syrian regime. 

Chirac died in Paris on Thursday aged 86.