End of era as Beirut renames Assad avenue after Rahbani

Lebanon has decided to rebaptise a thoroughfare named after former Syrian president Hafez Al-Assad in favour of late Lebanese musician and playwright Ziad Rahbani, a move many welcomed on Wednesday.

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The decision marks the end of an era and a rupture with the authoritarian rule of former Syrian leaders Hafez Al-Assad and his son Bashar -- close allies of Lebanon's Hizbollah group -- who from Damascus held Lebanon in a stranglehold for almost three decades.

Security forces ousted Bashar Al-Assad in December, ending five decades of one-family rule, further weakening Hizbollah after a war with Israel and helping to change the balance of power in Lebanon.