Lebanon bids farewell to Pierre Sadek

                                                         
Lebanese officials and social figures gathered on Thursday to bid farewell Lebanon's most prestigious caricaturist, Pierre Sadek, at a funeral chaired by Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir and held at Saint George cathedral in Downtown Beirut.      

Patriarchal Vicar Bishop Roland Abou Jaoude representing Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rahi, and Beirut Maronite Archbishop Boulos Matar assisted the prelate in the mass service.             

Caretaker Minister of Information Walid Daouk representing Lebanese President Michel Sleiman, MP Henri Helou representing Speaker Nabih Berri, and Mohammad Mashnouq representing Prime Minister - Designate Tammam Salam, and a panel of dignitaries attended the funeral.                                

Wreaths on behalf of the President, Speaker, and Prime Minister were laid on the coffin of the late, as well as a National Order of the Cedar he had been decorated with earlier in his life.                       

Sadek, 76, died on Wednesday morning after a long struggle with illness at St. George Hospital in Achrafieh.