"We will be back, and the current of the Future will lead us," says this slogan in tribute to the assassinated Rafik Hariri, and his son Saad. Photo sent by our correspondent in the South, Mountasser Abdallah.
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who arrived in Beirut on Tuesday evening to participate in the commemoration ceremony of the assassination of his father, former head of government Rafic Hariri and his companions, met on Wednesday with President Joseph Aoun, then the new Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and the Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri.
The Sunni leader, who officially suspended all political activity in 2022 and is now living abroad, left the presidential palace without making a statement, simply inviting journalists to listen to his speech scheduled for Friday. He then met Prime Minister Nawaf Salam at the Grand Serail where he congratulated him on the formation of the government, wishing him “success and achievement in his missions,” according to the state-run National News Agency (NNA). Hariri then went to Ain al-Tineh to meet with Berri.
On Wednesday, Hariri also met with former Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who expressed the hope that "the commemoration of the assassination of President Rafik Hariri would be an opportunity to strengthen unity among the Lebanese and to come together around a common discourse." He also hoped that "Lebanese leaders would agree on anything that could help resolve the political, economic and security issues that Lebanon is facing."
Hariri also met with the Mufti of Lebanon, Abdellatif Deriane. "Meet me on Friday and listen to what I have to say," he told the journalists present.
Earlier in the day, Hariri met U.S. Ambassador Lisa Johnson at the Center House in downtown Beirut. According to the NNA, the meeting focused on local and regional developments. It was attended by the chairwoman of the Hariri Foundation and aunt of the former PM, Bahia Hariri. Also present were Future Movement politicians Ghattas Khoury and Hani Hammoud.
Rafic Hariri was assassinated on Feb. 14, 2005, 20 years ago, in a truck bomb attack in Beirut, by the explosion of a 1,000 kg charge of TNT. His assassination marked a breaking point in Lebanon, tipping a large section of the population into the anti-Syrian camp, given the suspicions that weighed on the Syrian regime at that time. The latter withdrew its troops from Lebanon shortly afterward, in April 2005, after fifteen years of tutelage over the country.
A special international tribunal set up to decide the case several years later found a member of Hezbollah, Syria's ally in Lebanon, guilty.
The commemoration ceremony will take place on Friday, Feb. 14, at the Mohammed al-Amine mosque in downtown Beirut, where the deceased is buried.
Saad Hariri's speech on the occasion "will be a founding speech," Future Movement Secretary-General Ahmad Hariri announced on Tuesday during a tour of northern Lebanon. During a meeting with Future Movement officials in Koura, Zgharta and Batroun, Ahmad Hariri had discussed the changes in Lebanon and indicated that they "will be addressed by Saad Hariri in his speech on Feb. 14."
The Future invites broad participation
The general coordinator of the Future Movement in Saida and south Lebanon, Mazen Hashisho, called on Tuesday for broad participation of the inhabitants of Saida and south Lebanon in the ceremony commemorating the assassination of Rafic Hariri, under the slogan "In the twentieth year, we are back," according to L'Orient Today's correspondent in south Lebanon. He said that Sidon, the hometown of the assassinated Prime Minister, will always be faithful to his political movement thanks to his son, Saad Hariri.
In a statement, the official announced the establishment of several assembly points on Friday, in Saida, Sour and Zahrani, to allow the population to travel to Beirut.
Lebanese flags and flags of the Future Movement were hung in Saida, as well as banners bearing portraits of the assassinated politician and his son Saad.
"We are returning, the country is returning, work is returning," "The state of coexistence and equality, Lebanon first," "With you until the end of the road," read the slogans, hinting at the imminent return of Saad Hariri to Lebanese politics.