'My shoe's worth more than you! - politics Beirut-style

ANYONE who despairs of politicians being dull and incapable of straight-talking might prefer the Lebanese variety.

The Middle-Eastern state is renowned for its fiery leaders, but even so this televised debate over the ongoing strife in Syria between former legislator Mustafa Alloush and Syria’s Baath party representative in Lebanon, Fayez Shukur, is uniquely spicy.

The host sensibly points out at the start that the pair will not agree. But he could hardly have foreseen what ensued - an argument so fierce that it finally boiled over into a narrowly-averted punch-up.

It almost beats the Russian TV appearance of newspaper owner Alexander Lebedev for drama – but he did manage to land a punch. ·