Country lane abandoned by outlaw running (7)

I believe the answer is:

lebanon

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'country' is the definition.
(I know that Lebanon is a country)

'lane abandoned by outlaw running' is the wordplay.
'abandoned' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters) (middle letters abandon or vacate the word).
'by outlaw' becomes 'ban' (banning is a kind of outlawing. I am not sure about the 'by' bit.).
'running' becomes 'on' (eg when a machine is running it is on).
'lane' with its centre removed is 'le'.
'le'+'ban'+'on'='LEBANON'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for lebanon that I've seen before include "Republic on Mediterranean" , "Nab Noel in eastern Med. country" , "Middle East country" , "Its capital is Beirut" , "Country with cedars" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.

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