selection of related topics:
Assassination in Beirut
Washington Times | Tuesday, February 15, 2005 | By Nadim Ladki
Posted on 02/14/2005 11:55:49 PM PST by JohnHuang2
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1343399/posts
Initial Reactions to the Assassination of Former Lebanese President
(Iranian TV-"It's the Jews")
MEMRI TV (Middle East Media Research Institute) | February 14, 2005
Posted on 02/15/2005 1:23:10 AM PST by Stoat
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1343445/posts
U.S. to Syria: Leave Lebanon
MichNews | Feb 15, 2005 | David Gollust
Posted on 02/15/2005 3:13:07 AM PST by AliVeritas
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1343471/posts
Hariri owned JPMorgan Chase Tower, Houston's tallest building
He also had a stake in the new Calpine Center skyscraper here
By NANCY SARNOFF
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
Reuters file photo
Rafik Hariri was a billionaire and former prime minister of Lebanon.
Rafik Hariri, the Lebanese billionaire and former prime minister who was killed in a bomb explosion on Monday, owned Houston's tallest office tower and held a stake in another.
Hariri owned the JPMorgan Chase Tower at 600 Travis downtown through his U.S. business subsidiary Prime Asset Management.
Prime purchased the building in the late 1980s from Hines, the Houston-based realty firm that still manages the property.
Prime also holds an interest in the new Calpine Center at 717 Texas in a partnership with Hines, which developed the building.
Hariri, who resigned as Lebanese prime minister last fall, was riding in a motorcade on Monday when he was killed in an explosion in Beirut.
Hines and Hariri's business relationship dates back two decades, said George Lancaster, a spokesman for Hines.
"Mr. Hines and several people that have worked closely with him are saddened by the tragic news," he said.
It's too early to tell what will happen to Hariri's interests in the Houston properties, Lancaster added.
The 75-story JPMorgan Chase building opened in 1982. It was designed by the famous architect I.M. Pei.
At 33 stories tall, the Calpine building was completed in 2003. Helmuth, Obata & Kassabaum was the architect.