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Rafik Al-Hariri |
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Written by General Editor
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Rafik Bahaeddine Al-Hariri
Rafik Bahaeddine Al-Hariri — (November 1, 1944 – February 14, 2005), (Arabic: رفيق بهاءالدين الحريري) a self-made billionaire and business tycoon, was Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2000 until his resignation on 20 October 2004.
He headed five cabinets during his tenure. Hariri dominated the country's post-war political and business life and is widely credited with getting the country back on its feet after the devastating 15-year civil war.
Hariri was assassinated on 14 February 2005 when explosives equivalent to around 1000 kg of TNT were detonated as his motorcade drove past the St. George Hotel in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. The investigation into his assassination is still ongoing and it is conducted under the supervision of the United Nations and led by the independent investigator Serge Brammertz. It has been widely speculated that the Syrian government are linked to the assassination, but recent evidence suggests a more likely role for Al-Qaeda's Abu Musaab al-Zarqawi.
Hariri's killing led to massive political change in Lebanon, including the Cedar Revolution and the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon.
Background
Born to a Sunni Muslim family of modest means in the Lebanese port city of Sidon, Hariri attended elementary and secondary school in his city and pursued his business administration studies at the Beirut Arab University. He had a brother, Shafic, and a sister, Bahia. After training as a teacher he left Lebanon in 1965 to work in Saudi Arabia for a construction company.
Hariri was married twice, and his oldest children, including Saad and Bahaa Hariri, Bahaa being the eldest, were born to this first marriage (Nidal Basatini) believed to be an Iraqi. His third son Houssam passed away in a car accident in Boston while attending MIT. He married his second wife, Nazik (Nazek) Audeh, in 1965, after his first marriage ended in divorce. In 1969, Hariri established his own construction company CICONEST, which benefited greatly from the oil price boom of the 1970s. Hariri accumulated vast amounts of wealth in a short period of time and emerged as a powerful construction tycoon. In 1978 Hariri was made a citizen of Saudi Arabia by the Saudi royal family as a reward for the high quality of his entrepreneurial services, and became the kingdom's emissary to Lebanon. Hariri then went on to become Saudi Arabia's leading entrepreneur, acquiring Saudi Oger in 1979, and founding Oger International, which is based in Paris. His interests extended across banking, real estate, oil, industry and telecommunications. Rafik and Nazik Hariri had living five children (Bahaa, Saad, Aiman, Fahad and Hind being his only daughter) along with one step son and step daughter and seven grandchildren.
In 1993 he founded the television station Future TV in Beirut and purchased stakes in several Lebanese newspapers. He founded his own newspaper Al-mustaqbal (The Future). He was also the biggest shareholder in Solidere, the joint-stock company that almost single handedly transformed and revived central Beirut following the Lebanese civil war.
In 1982, he donated $12 million to Lebanese victims of Israel's invasion and helped clean up Beirut's streets with his company's money. After the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, he acted as an envoy of the Saudi royal family to the country. He laid the ground work that led to the 1989 Taif Accord, which Syria organised to bring the warring factions together. Taif put an end to the civil war and paved the way for Hariri to become prime minister.
Political career
Hariri returned to Lebanon in 1992 as prime minister, under Syria's watchful and military occupation of Lebanon, he put the country back on the financial map through the issuing of Eurobonds and won plaudits from the World Bank for his plan to borrow reconstruction money as the country's debt grew to become the largest per capita in the world.
Amid the political crisis brought on by the extension of President Emile Lahoud's term, Hariri resigned as Prime Minister, saying: "I have... submitted the resignation of the government, and I have declared that I will not be a candidate to head the (next) government."
Hariri's contributions were numerous. Among the most notable, he donated a great deal of money to charity, and invested in Lebanon when few others were willing to risk doing so. Like all prime ministers since the end of the French mandate in 1943, he was a Sunni Muslim. He worked towards unity of the different religious and ethnic groups and rebuilding Lebanon.
During a BBC interview in 2001, Harīrī was asked by Tim Sebastian why he refused to hand over members of Hezbollah that were accused by America of being terrorists. He responded that Hezballah were the ones protecting Lebanon against the Israeli occupation and called for implementation of passed United Nations resolutions against Israel. He was further accused of making the American coalition in the War on Terrorism worthless and asked if he was ready for the consequences of his refusal, reminding him that George W. Bush had said : "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists". He replied that he had hoped that there would be no consequences, but would deal with them if they arrive. Hariri further said that he opposed the killing of all humans Israeli, Palestinian, Syrian or Lebanese and believed in dialogue as a solution. He further went on to say that Syria will have to stay in Lebanon for protection of Lebanon until they are no longer needed and Lebanon asks them to leave.
On June 22, 2005, Beirut International Airport was renamed Rafic Hariri International Airport in honor of Rafīq Harīrī. Many Lebanese saw the renaming as a monopolization of Lebanon by the Hariri family, and called for the renaming of the airport to its original name: "Beirut International Airport." Additionally, Beirut General University hospital was renamed Rafik Hariri Hospital.
Fortune
By the 1980s, Hariri entered the Forbes top 100. In 2002 Hariri became the fourth-richest politician in the world. Forbes estimated his personal and family's fortune at $4.3 billion on its 2005 World's richest people. After his assassination, his family inherited a total of $16.7 billion in 2006, which drew some questions which haven't been explained by the Hariri family on how $4.3 billion became $16.7 billion in the course of the year after the assassination. All his family members appeared on the Forbes' list of billionaires in 2006.
Rafik Hariri had interests stretching from Riyadh to Paris to Houston. Until returning to Lebanon, his son Saad Hariri ran Saudi Oger, a USD $3.15 billion (sales) construction conglomerate. Oger paid $375 million to increase its ownership in Arab Bank in order to keep out interested Arab-American investors.
In 1990, on the occasion of the graduation of his son, Bahaʻa, from Boston University, Mr. Hariri made the naming gift for what became The Rafik B. Hariri Building, home of Boston University's School of Management.
Distinctions, medals and awards
• Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur (1981)
• Chevalier of the Italian Republic (1982)
• Cedar National Medal / Rank of Commandor (1983)
• Saint Peter and Saint Paul Medal (1983)
• Save the Children 50th Anniversary Award (1983)
• Medal of King Faysal (1983)
• Médaille de la Ville de Paris (1983)
• Golden Key of Beirut City (1983)
• Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (1983)
• Officier de la Légion d’Honneur (1986)
• Doctor Honoris Causa of Boston University (1986)
• Docteur Honoris Causa de l’Université de Nice (1988)
• Doctor Honoris Causa of the Arab University of Beirut (1994)
• Goldaen Key of Sao Paolo City / Brazil (1995).
• Medal of the Liberator of Argentina – General José St. Martin (1995)
• Prix Louise Michel – France (1995)
• Doctor Honoris Causa of Georgetown University – Washington USA (1996)
• Grande Croix de la Légion d’Honneur (1996)
• The Grand Cordon (1996).
• The Order of Diplomatic Service Merit Grand Gwang Hwa Medal - Korea (1997)
• Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Ottawa, Canada (1997)
• Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Montreal, Canada (1997)
• Le Grand Collier du Trône – Morocco (1997)
• Cavalier du Gran Croce (1997)
• Al Nahda medal, First Category, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (2001).
• Medal of Honor of the Arab Union / The Arab Union of Veterans Associations (2001).
• "Star of Romania" Order at the rank of “The Grand Cross” (2002).
• Union Medal / Republic of Yemen (2002).
• Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters, Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon (2003).
• Orient Doctorate Degree, Moscow State Institute for International Relations (2003)
• UN-HABITAT Scroll of Honor Special Citation for Post Conflict Reconstruction / World Urban Forum, United Nations - Barcelona, Spain (2004).
• King Faysal International Award for Serving Islam, jointly with the Islamic Bank for Development (2005). >
Tipperary International Peace Award (2005).
Assassination
On 14 February 2005 Hariri was killed, along with 21 others, when explosives equivalent of around 1,000 kg of TNT were detonated as his motorcade drove near the St. George Hotel in Beirut. Among the dead were several of Hariri's bodyguards and his friend and former Minister of the Economy Bassel Fleihan. Rafik Hariri was buried along with his bodyguards, who died in the bombing, in a location near Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque.
The latest progress report by Brammertz has indicated that DNA evidence collected from the crime scene strongly suggests that the assassination might be the act of a young male suicide bomber.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hariri
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