US Ambassador to Lebanon, David Hill (3 – R), pays his respects at the tomb of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, during the 10th anniversary of his assassination in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, on February 13, 2015. (EPA/Nabil Mounzer)
Beirut, Reuters—Lebanon’s former prime minister Saad Al-Hariri arrived back in the country overnight on a rare visit and will make a speech on Saturday to mark the 10th anniversary of his father Rafik’s assassination, Lebanese media said.
He will speak at a ceremony dedicated to his father in central Beirut, state news agency NNA and pro-Hariri newspaper Al-Mustaqbal said. Soldiers patrolled streets near the venue in the capital on Saturday and blocked off traffic.
Rafik Hariri was killed in a 2005 Beirut waterfront bombing that brought the country back to the brink of civil war.
Five members of the Lebanese Shi’ite group Hezbollah have been indicted over the killing by an international tribunal in The Hague, which is being closely watched in Lebanon. The trial in absentia began in January 2014 and Hezbollah has denied any involvement in the killing.
The assassination pushed Hariri’s son Saad into political life. He remains Lebanon’s most influential Sunni politician, despite leaving the country in 2011 after his government was toppled by a coalition including Hezbollah. He splits his time between Saudi Arabia and France, who support him.
Despite the animosity between the two groups, Hariri’s Future Movement is now working with Hezbollah to contain sectarian tensions back in Lebanon that have been exacerbated by the war in Syria.
The four-year-old war conflict involves overwhelmingly Sunni insurgents who oppose Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, a member of the Shi’ite-derived Alawite minority, and allied Shi’ite groups including Hezbollah.
Saad visited Lebanon for the first time in three years in August. Politicians and public figures expressed hope that his return would help stabilise Lebanon, which is plagued by violence and caught in political deadlock, unable to elect a new president after several attempts.
Asharq Al-Awsat
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