Sources close to Lebanon's Supreme Shiite Council dismissed Sunday night the rumored death of the council's speaker Sheikh Mohammed Mahdi Shamseddine as groundless, saying he was in good health, reported Iran News Agency (IRNA).
Ex-member of Lebanon's Shiite Council Seyed Hani Fahas told IRNA
that Shamseddine, who is currently in Paris for medical treatment, was due to arrive in Beirut Tuesday.
Shamseddine's rumored death spread in Beirut when a Shiite member of the Lebanese Parliament, Hussein Yatim, said Shamseddine had died while at a hospital in Paris.
Yatim, who is reportedly ousted from Lebanon's Amal Movement, is said to have been spreading the rumor in order to manipulate the votes of Lebanon’s Shiite Muslims in the country's parliamentary elections, added the agency.
Sheikh Shamseddine, 65, who was treated for lung cancer at the American University of Beirut Hospital two months ago, was flown to a Paris hospital two weeks ago.
He has been Speaker of the Supreme Lebanese Shiite Council for the past ten years, said IRNA - Albawaba.com
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