Bowen to visit Lebanon despite bomb blast
IMMIGRATION Minister Chris Bowen is pushing ahead with his travel plans to Lebanon this weekend, despite a car bomb attack in Beirut that killed a top security official and seven other people. Friday's bomb blast in Ashrafiya, a business centre full of banks, shops, universities and cafes, also injured 78 people. Two of Lebanon's top anti-Syrian political leaders have accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of assassinating the Lebanese security official in the car bomb attack. Mr Bowen has announced that despite the security concerns he will still make his first visit to Lebanon. He is set to meet President General Michel Sleiman, Prime Minister Najib Mikati and other senior government officials and refugee organisations next week. He will also visit Syrian refugee shelters in northern Lebanon, with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. "This will help to inform discussions about Australia's humanitarian program and consideration of ways