Saad Hariri marks anniversary of his father’s death with family members in Downtown

BEIRUT — Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who has withdrawn from politics and settled in the United Arab Emirates, went on Monday to Downtown Beirut where he commemorated, in silence, the 17th anniversary of the assassination of his father, former Premier Rafik Hariri, who was killed by a truck bomb in the capital on Feb. 14, 2005.

Here’s what we know:

    • The leader of the Future Movement did not deliver any speech Monday. He paid his respects at father's gravesite by reciting the Fatiha in the presence of his aunt, MP Bahia Hariri, and members of the family, amid a crowd of supporters. A tense atmosphere was palpable at times, with a large police presence at the site.

    • Hariri had arrived in Beirut on Sunday morning for the commemoration. Following his arrival, he chaired a meeting of his parliamentary group, during which he once again confirmed his withdrawal from politics and his boycott of upcoming parliamentary elections, scheduled for May 15.

    • Several officials and political figures also came to Downtown on Monday to pay tribute to the memory of Rafik Hariri. Among those who attended were Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi, Druze leader Walid Joumblatt and his son, MP Taymour Joumblatt, and former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who laid wreaths on the graves of Rafik Hariri and his companions.

   • A crowd of supporters of Saad Hariri was also present at Martyrs’ Square, opposite the esplanade of the Mohammad al-Amin mosque, where Rafik Hariri and his companions are buried. Many of those in attendance had arrived in convoys of supporters from outside the capital. According to our correspondent in North Lebanon, one such convoy came from Akkar and was led by MP Walid Baarini. “The presence of these crowds today proves that the assassination of Rafik Hariri continues to have an impact,” Baarini said.

    • In Saida, in the south, five buses carried a crowd of pro-Hariri activists, our correspondent in the area reported.

    • However, according to our correspondent in the Bekaa, there was little evidence of the commemoration of the assassination in the central Bekaa and Baalbeck. Only a few small gatherings were reported in some localities, including Taanayel and Marj.

    • Rafik Hariri was killed alongside with 21 others in a massive truck bombing in Beirut on Feb. 14, 2005. His assassination sparked the Cedar Revolution, a popular movement that forced Syria to withdraw all its troops from Lebanon in April of that year. The Special Tribunal for Lebanon, set up by the United Nations to try those responsible for the attack, sentenced Salim Ayyasg, an alleged Hezbollah member, in absentia.