REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BEIRUT - Former Lebanese minister Mohammed Shattah, who opposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, was killed in an explosion that targeted his convoy in Beirut on Friday along with at least four other people, security sources said.

Shattah, a Sunni Muslim, was also an opposition figure and an adviser to former prime minister Saad al-Hariri. Sources at the explosion site said Shattah was on his way to attend a meeting when the explosion went off.

A Reuters witness at the scene said his car was "totally destroyed. It is a wreck." Much of Beirut went into lockdown following the explosion, with police blocking off roads across the city.

The sound of the blast was heard across the city at around 9:40 am (0740 GMT), and a plume of black smoke was seen rising in the downtown business and hotel district.

Ambulances could be seen taking victims from the area, a Reuters witness said. A restaurant and a coffee shop were destroyed in the blast, and several cars were on fire, the witness said, adding that there was glass everywhere and the smell of explosives filled the air.

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