Chris sez, "Craig Finlay has been posting to the Flickr pool 'infiltration' some photos of an abandoned mansion in Beirut that turns out to be the former prime minister's. Amazing."
I saw this abandoned mansion last week from the street and went in with my friend Michel as translator in case we ran into anyone. It took a bit of jimmying to force the door, and inside we found piles and piles of of binders and dozens of black and white photos, all showing one man at various political events.It turns out the mansion used to be the home of Takieddin el-Solh (born 1908, Sidon, Lebanon; died November 27, 1988, Paris) Lebanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1973-74, and again briefly in 1980. The binders were full of voter lists and various political documents. I'm assuming he abandoned the place during the civil war and moved to a more secure location. The house is in the Sunni section, but was within easy artillery distance of the Green Line.
(Thanks, Chris!)
