The former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri praying at his father's grave in Beirut, Feb. 14, 2024. (Credit: Anwar Amro/AFP)
As he does every year, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri will return to Beirut on Feb. 14 to commemorate the assassination of his father, Rafik Hariri, also a former prime minister. But this year, set against a backdrop of a radically different context and amid dramatic geopolitical shifts, including the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad — accused of involvement in his father's murder — and the rise of a new political establishment in Lebanon, Hariri’s trip may extend beyond a mere annual remembrance. These developments could signal the potential return of the Future Movement leader to the political scene after a four-year hiatus spent in exile in the United Arab Emirates. Read more In Lebanon, the beginning of a new era? L'Orient-Le Jour has learned from informed sources that Hariri has tasked his closest advisers...
As he does every year, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri will return to Beirut on Feb. 14 to commemorate the assassination of his father, Rafik Hariri, also a former prime minister. But this year, set against a backdrop of a radically different context and amid dramatic geopolitical shifts, including the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad — accused of involvement in his father's murder — and the rise of a new political establishment in Lebanon, Hariri’s trip may extend beyond a mere annual remembrance. These developments could signal the potential return of the Future Movement leader to the political scene after a four-year hiatus spent in exile in the United Arab Emirates. Read more In Lebanon, the beginning of a new era? L'Orient-Le Jour has learned from informed sources that Hariri has tasked his closest...