Father of peace deal that ended Lebanon’s civil war dies

BEIRUT (AP) — Hussein Husseini, a former Lebanese parliament speaker and the father of the 1989 Taif Agreement that ended the country’s 15-year civil war, has died after days of illness. The country’s state-run news agency says the 85-year-old Husseini was admitted to a Beirut hospital earlier this month after suffering from a strong flu. Husseini remained in the intensive care unit until his death on Wednesday morning. Husseini was elected to parliament representing the northeastern Baalbek-Hermel region in 1972 and remained a legislator until 2008. He was elected as parliament speaker in 1984, a job that he kept until 1992. He resigned as lawmaker in 2008.