Beirut: According to the Arabic daily Al Mustaqbal, confirmed by at least two television networks this morning, former prime minister Sa’ad Hariri arrived overnight to attend the tenth anniversary commemorations of his father’s assassination, scheduled for February 14 at the Biel exhibition centre in downtown Beirut.
Hariri came from Riyadh and was expected to deliver a major address at a rally in memory of his father. In preparation for this day, through several television interviews, the former premier stressed his party’s determination to continue the slain leader’s nationalist policies, which emphasised co-existence, dialogue among warring factions, and economic prosperity.
This marks the second time that Hariri has returned to Beirut in the space of an year. He last visited the Lebanese capital for three days on August 8, 2014 after a long absence. On that visit, he announced an emergency one billion grant from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, the late King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, to the Lebanese Armed Forces and Internal Security Forces.
It was unclear how long Sa’ad Hariri planned to remain or whether he would attend the planned March 14 meeting by the coalition’s senior leaders at the Bristol hotel in Beirut to repair ties and unify positions within the alliance, as a new roadmap is adopted to meet the country’s security, economic, and political challenges.
