Bahaa Hariri vows to continue father's fight after younger brother quits Lebanese politics

Eldest son of Raifik Hariri declares intention in message released days after Saad Hariri said he would not be taking part in next election

Bahaa Hariri announces his intention to take on his father's political mantle in a recorded message released on January 28. Sawt Beirut International via Reuters

Bahaa Hariri, son of Lebanon's former prime minister Rafik Hariri, declared his intention to join the battle "to take back the country" on Friday, days after his younger brother Saad, also a former premier, announced he was quitting politics.

Bahaa Hariri released a recorded message in which he said he would "continue the journey" of his father, who established the Hariri family as the dominant player in Lebanon's Sunni community before his assassination in 2005.

"Through partnership and solidarity, we will enter the battle to take back the country and the sovereignty of the country from its occupiers," he said.

Bahaa Hariri is a fierce critic of Lebanon's Hezbollah group, an armed Iran-backed Shiite movement that dominates the country's sectarian political system. He launched a cross-sectarian political movement, Sawa Li Lubnan, in November to contest the next parliamentary election, scheduled for May.

Saad Hariri took on his father's mantle as representative of Lebanon's Sunni community after the 2005 assassination. His withdrawal from politics on Monday, four months before the election, has added to the turmoil facing Lebanon amid a devastating financial crisis. He attributed his decision to factors including Iranian influence, which he said prevented positive change in the country.

In his message on Friday, Bahaa Hariri said: "The son of the martyr Rafik Hariri will not leave Lebanon, I am with you and very soon I will be among you."

After 15 years of managing his business empire from London, he told The National in November that his decision to enter Lebanese politics was prompted by the deadly Beirut port blast in August 2020 that devastated the capital and claimed more than 200 lives.

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  Former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri and his sons Saad, left and Bahaa, centre, perform Umrah at the Grand Mosque in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, in 2003. Saad would go on to become prime minister in 2009, four years after the assassination of his father. All photos: AFP

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  Saad Hariri and Solange Gemayel, the widow of assassinated president and Christian warlord Bashir Gemayel, attend a press conference in Beirut in 2005, where Hariri announced his list for the coming elections. Ms Gemayel became a shoo-in for Beirut's only Maronite Christian seat.

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  Saad with Rafik Hariri's sister, Bahia, during the funeral procession for former minister Bassel Fleihan, Hariri's close aide, who died from wounds sustained in the February 14 bomb blast that killed the prime minister.

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  UAE President Sheikh Khalifa receives Saad Hariri on December 4, 2005 in Abu Dhabi.

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  Mr Hariri, newly-elected Lebanese parliamentarian, meets Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in New York, in 2005, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

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  Former French president Jacques Chirac with Hariri in 2005, after a meeting at the Elysee palace in Paris.

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  With Jordan's King Abdullah II on the sidelines of UN General Assembly in New York, 2005.

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  US envoy David Welch, left, then assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs, meets Mr Hariri in Beirut, in 2007. Mr Welch held talks in Lebanon to discuss a presidential void.

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  With Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, in 2011.

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  French President Emmanuel Macron walks between Saad Hariri and UN Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed, right, as they arrive to attend the Lebanon International Support Group meeting in Paris on December 8, 2017.

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  Mr Hariri delivers a speech to mark the 10th anniversary of the assassination of his father in Beirut, 2015.

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  With former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in Cairo, in 2008.

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  Mr Hariri greets Lebanon's newly-elected Sunni Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Deryan, in 2014.

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  Former US president George W Bush shares a light moment with Mr Hariri during their meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, in 2006.

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  Vice President and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, then Crown Prince of Dubai, receives Mr Hariri in 2005.

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  With Lebanese President Michel Aoun at the presidential palace in Beirut, in 2020.

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  Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin meets Mr Hariri in Moscow, in 2021.

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  With then Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, in 2005, at the UN in New York.

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  France's former president Francois Hollande, right, welcomes Mr Hariri to a meeting at the Elysee presidential palace, in 2012.

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  Mr Hariri salutes thousands of supporters in Lebanon's Miniyeh region.

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  Greeting supporters upon arrival at his home in Beirut, in 2017, after a mysterious odyssey that resulted in him announcing his resignation while in Saudi Arabia. Hariri told cheering supporters that he was staying.

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  With former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice in 2005.

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  Meeting Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in Beirut, in 2005.

Bahaa Hariri has been at odds with his brother Saad over his decision to reach a political compromise with Hezbollah. Members of the group were implicated in the assassination of Rafik Hariri, including one who was convicted by a UN special tribunal. Hezbollah denies any involvement in the killing.

Saad Hariri said on Monday his decision aimed to spare Lebanon civil war but had cost him his fortune and "even brothers".

Mohanad Hage Ali of the Carnegie Middle East Centre said Bahaa Hariri's message was "a signal that he will not allow a void in Sunni politics, that he is stepping in to carry the mantle".

"At the same time it is very difficult to see him filling the void, unless there is regional backing and solid financing behind him. If he is willing to spend money on the Sunni scene, perhaps he might have a chance," he told Reuters.