13:59

Dozens of journalists were gathered outside Beirut’s press syndicate building for Ghosn’s press conference, including many who had flown in especially from Japan.

They stood in the rain guarded by heavily armed Lebanese police officers, descending on each car that pulled up the building. The arrival of two black Toyota Land Cruisers around 3pm caused a flurry - until what appeared to be a group of private security officers emerged. Ghosn had appeared to use the temporary rush to enter the building unseen through a side entrance, and appeared in the conference room a few moments later.