Former Lebanese Prime Minister and leader of the Future Movement, Saad Hariri. (Credit: Anwar Amro/AFP)
BEIRUT — Former Prime Minister and leader of the Future Movement Saad Hariri, who has been living in the United Arab Emirates for the past year and who withdrew from Lebanese politics ahead of parliamentary elections in 2022, returned to Beirut on Sunday evening, two days before the commemoration of the 18th anniversary of the assassination of his father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Following his arrival, Hariri paid his respects at his father's grave in Downtown Beirut, where security forces were heavily deployed.
وصل مساء الأحد, رئيس الحكومة الأسبق #سعد_الحريري، إلى بيروت.
— Nancy Lakiss?? نانسي اللقيس ?? (@lakiss_nancy) February 13, 2023
وفور وصوله توجّه الحريري، إلى ضريح والده الرئيس الشهيد رفيق الحريري في العاصمة, وسط تدابير أمنية مشدّدة.
وتأتي هذه الزيارة للحريري استعدادًا لإحياء ذكرى استشهاد والده الرئيس الشهيد #رفيق_الحريري ليوم الغد pic.twitter.com/tdf2iTWXWb
Having withdrawn from the political arena in part due to his failure to form a government in July 2021, Hariri left Lebanon and moved to the United Arab Emirates, where he has reinvested his energy in business. Following his party's decision to boycott the 2022 parliamentary elections, its future is far from certain: although Hariri remains at the head of the party on paper, the movement is largely devoid of leadership and torn by rivalries between members of the former prime minister's inner circle.