Rafic Baha El Deen Al Hariri was born on November 1, 1944. He was a business tycoon and the Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2000 until his resignation, 20 October 2004. He headed five cabinets during his tenure. Hariri dominated the country’s post-war political and business life and is widely credited with reconstructing Beirut after the 15-year civil war.
Hariri was assassinated on 14 February 2005 when explosives equivalent to around 1800 kg of TNT were detonated as his motorcade drove past
St. George Hotel in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. The investigation, by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, into his assassination is still ongoing and currently led by the independent investigator Daniel Bellemare. In its first two reports, UNIIIC indicated that the Syrian government may be linked to the assassination. Hariri’s killing led to massive political change in Lebanon, including the Cedar Revolution and the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon.
Early Life And Education
Hariri was born on 1 November 1944 to a modest Sunni Muslim family, along with two siblings (brother Shafic and sister Bahia) in the Lebanese port city of Sidon. He attended elementary and secondary school in Sidon, and graduated in business administration at Beirut’s Arab University. In 1965, Hariri left his home and went to Saudi Arabia. There, he earned from teaching for a short period of time, later shifting to the construction industry. In 1978, he gained Saudi Arabian citizenship.
In 1969, Hariri established Ciconest, a small subcontracting firm, which went out of business soon. He then went in business with the French construction firm Oger for the construction of a hotel in Ta’if, Saudi Arabia, the timely construction of which brought him in good graces with King Khaled. Hariri took over Oger, forming Saudi Oger, which became the main construction firm used by the Saudi Royal family for all of their important developments. As a result, only a few years after his first contract with King Khaled, Hariri had become a multi-billionaire.
Having accumulated his wealth, Hariri started a number of philanthropic projects, including the building of educational facilities in Lebanon. His first initiative in Lebanon was the Islamic Association for Culture and Education which was founded in 1979. The association was later renamed the Hariri Foundation. Hariri became progressively more embroiled in politics. His appeals to the U.N. and services as an emissary to the Saudi Royal family won him international recognition on the political stage for his humanitarian efforts but also slowly caught him in the web of Lebanese politics.
In 1982, he donated $12 million to Lebanese victims of the 1978 South Lebanon conflict and helped clean up Beirut’s streets with his company’s money. After the conflict, he acted as an envoy of the Saudi royal family to the country. He laid the groundwork that led to the 1989 Taif Accord, which Saudi Arabia organised to bring the warring factions together. Taif put an end to the civil war and paved the way for Hariri to become prime minister.
Political Career
Hariri returned to Lebanon in the early 1980s as a wealthy man and began to build a name for himself by making large donations and contributions to various groups in Lebanon. However, he continued to serve as a political advisor to Prince Bandar bin Sultan in 1983. He was implanted as the Saudis’ strong man following the collapse of the PLO and the paucity of any viable Sunni leadership in the country as well as a response to the rising power of the Shiite militia Amal. As a former Saudi diplomatic representative, he played a significant role in constructing the 1990 Taif Agreement that ended Lebanon’s sixteen-year civil war. In 1992, Hariri became the first post-civil war prime minister of Lebanon under president Elias Hrawi. Hariri put the country back on the financial map through the issuing of Eurobonds and won plaudits from the World Bank for his plan to borrow reconstruction money as the country’s debt grew to become the largest per capita in the world. His first premiership lasted until 1998, and Hariri was replaced by Salim Hoss as prime minister. In fact, as a result of the power struggle between Hariri and newly elected president Émile Lahoud, he left office.
In October 2000, Hariri was again appointed prime minister, replacing Salim Hoss, and formed the cabinet. In September 2004, Hariri defended UN Security Council Resolution 1559, which called for “all remaining foreign forces to withdraw from Lebanon”. On 20 October 2004, his second term ended when he resigned from office. Omar Karami succeeded him as prime minister.
Hariri And Lebanon’s Political Environment
Amid the political crisis brought on by the extension of President Émile Lahoud’s term, Hariri resigned as Prime Minister, saying: “I have… submitted the resignation of the government, and I have declared that I will not be a candidate to head the (next) government.”
During a BBC interview in 2001, Hariri was asked by Tim Sebastian why he refused to hand over the members of Hezbollah that were accused by America of being terrorists. He responded that Hezbollah were the ones protecting Lebanon against the Israeli occupation and called for the implementation of passed United Nations resolutions against Israel. He was further accused of making the American coalition in the war on terrorism worthless and asked if he was ready for the consequences of his refusal, reminding him that George W. Bush had said: “Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.” He replied that he had hoped there would be no consequences, but would deal with them if they arrived. Hariri further said that he opposed the killing of all humans—Israeli, Palestinian, Syrian or Lebanese—and believed in dialogue as a solution. He further went on to say that Syria would have to stay in Lebanon for protection of Lebanon until they were no longer needed and Lebanon asked them to leave.
Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, a recent recruit of the anti-Syrian opposition, emboldened by popular anger and civic action now being called Lebanon’s Cedar Revolution, alleged in the wake of the assassination that on 26 August 2004 Syrian President Bashar al-Assad threatened Hariri, saying “[President of Lebanon] Lahoud is me. … If you and Chirac want me out of Lebanon, I will break Lebanon.” He was quoted as saying “When I heard him telling us those words, I knew that it was his condemnation of death.” This meeting between Hariri and Assad, which had been on 26 August 2004, lasted for just fifteen minutes.
On 22 June 2005, Beirut International Airport was renamed Rafic Hariri International Airport. Additionally, Beirut General University hospital was renamed Rafiq Hariri Hospital. Rafic Hariri was succeeded by his son Saad Hariri as leader of the Future Party.
Personal Life
Hariri married twice. He had seven children. In 1965, he married an Iraqi woman, Nida Bustani, who is the mother of his three sons; Bahaa (born 1967), who is a businessman. Saad, who succeeded his father as leader of the future movement, and Houssam who died in a traffic accident in the US in the late 1980s. They divorced. He married his second spouse, Nazik Audi, in 1976 and she is the mother of Hariri’s four children, including Ayman and Fahd.
Assassination
On 14 February 2005, Hariri was killed when explosives equivalent to around 1,800 kilograms (4,000 lb) of TNT concealed inside a parked Mitsubishi van were detonated as his motorcade drove near
St. George Hotel in Beirut. Another 22 people lost their lives in the explosion. Among the dead were several of Hariri’s bodyguards and his friend and former Minister of the Economy Bassel Fleihan. Hariri was buried along with his bodyguards, who died in the bombing, in a location near Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque.
A 2006 report by Serge Brammertz has indicated that DNA evidence collected from the crime scene suggests that the assassination might be the act of a young male suicide bomber. A UN backed tribunal issued four arrest warrants to the members of the Hezbollah. Hezbollah blamed the assassination on Israel.
According to a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation news investigation, the special UN investigation team had found strong evidence for the responsibility of Hezbollah in the assassination.
