Lebanon abolishes death penalty in first for region

BEIRUT, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Lebanon's parliament on Tuesday abolished the death penalty and replaced all existing death sentences with life imprisonment, the speaker's office said in a statement. The move makes it the first country in the Middle East to formally end capital punishment, after maintaining a de facto moratorium on executions since 2004, although dozens of people had remained technically on death row. Crimes that were punishable with a death sentence included murder and treason.