BEIRUT: Politicians, diplomats and religious leaders of different affiliations gathered Saturday to pay their respects to former MP Nassib Lahoud, who died Thursday at age 68 after a long battle with cancer.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai, who presided over the service, praised Lahoud for “working on spreading democracy in his surroundings,” and “for believing in the independence of the administration and putting it in the service of the citizens,” reported Naharnet.

The funeral for the head of the Democratic Renewal Movement and a leading figure in the “Cedar Revolution” that led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops in Lebanon was held at St. George Cathedral in downtown Beirut.

Dignitaries in attendance included former former Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir, Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Kataeb party leader Amin Gemayel, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, al-Mustaqbal bloc leader MP Fouad Saniora and Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblatt.

Mikati represented President Michel Sleiman at the funeral, while Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri sent MP Abdullatif Zein to represent him.

The prime minister, in the name of Suleiman, decorated Lahoud posthumously with the Order of the Cedar officer grade, the highest decoration in Lebanon.

"I lost a dear friend who was key in forming the first government of my presidential term, and remained a close consultant afterward,” Sleiman said Thursday.

A statement released by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri's office said that Lahoud leaves behind a legacy of defending freedoms.

The 68-year-old Lahoud, who hailed from the Metn town of Baabdat, held various political posts throughout a distinguished political career.

He served as Lebanon's ambassador to the US in 1990. In 1991, he was elected a member of Parliament for the Maronite seat in the Metn district and again in 1992 in the country’s first post-war parliamentary elections.

In April 2001, he established the Democratic Renewal Movement along with politicians, businessmen, academics as well as public sector and civil society activists. Among the party’s main goals is to strengthen Lebanon’s sovereignty and independence.

He was a leading figure in the “Cedar Revolution,” a chain of demonstrations in Lebanon, particularly in Beirut, triggered by the Feb. 14, 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The demonstrations played a major role in convincing Syria to end its 29-year military presence in Lebanon.

He served as minister of state in the Cabinet of former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora in 2008 and 2009.

A member of the Lahoud family, one of the most prominent Lebanese Christian political families, Nassib is survived by his wife, Abla Fustuk, and two children, Salim and Jumana.

He will be laid to rest in his hometown of Baabdat in the Metn.