BEIRUT // Lebanon’s former prime minister Saad Hariri has flown back to the country on a rare visit, to deliver a speech marking the 10th anniversary of his father Rafik’s assassination.
Saad has been in self-imposed exile since 2011, dividing his time between Saudi Arabia and France, who support him.
The former leader will speak at a ceremony dedicated to Rafik Hariri in central Beirut on Saturday, state news agency NNA and pro-Hariri newspaper Al Mustaqbal said. Earlier in the day, soldiers patrolled streets near the venue and blocked off traffic.
Rafik was killed in a 2005 suicide lorry bombing that brought the country back to the brink of civil war.
Five members of Lebanese Shiite group Hizbollah have been indicted over his death by an international tribunal in The Hague, which is being closely watched in Lebanon. The trial in absentia began in January 2014 and Hizbollah has denied any involvement in the killing.
The assassination pushed Rafik’s son Saad into political life. He remains Lebanon’s most influential Sunni politician, despite leaving the country in 2011 after his government was toppled by a coalition including Hizbollah.
Despite the animosity between the two groups, Saad’s Future Movement is now working with Hizbollah to contain sectarian tensions back in Lebanon that have been exacerbated by the war in Syria.
The four-year-old conflict involves mostly Sunni insurgents who oppose Syrian president Bashar Al Assad, a member of the Shiite-derived Alawite minority, and allied Shiite groups including Hizbollah.
Saad visited Lebanon for the first time in three years in August. Politicians and public figures expressed hope that his return would help stabilise the country, which is plagued by violence and caught in political deadlock, unable to elect a new president after several attempts.
* Reuters
