Lebanon still haunted by spectre of Hariri murder

The 2005 assassination of Rafiq Hariri on Thursday was again thrust into the limelight as the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) served an indictment - and four arrest warrants - in the case.

The UN-backed tribunal has been at the centre of a long-running crisis in Lebanon, leading to the January 12 collapse of the pro-Western government which had been headed by Hariri's son and political heir Saad Hariri.

Many now fear the country could be sliding towards violence as the Lebanese brace for the announcement of the indictments in the case, which is likely to name members of the powerful and well-armed Shiite movement Hezbollah. On February 14, 2005, Hariri was killed with 22 others when a massive blast struck his motorcade on Beirut's seafront, sending tremors through a country still haunted by memories of its 1975-1990 civil war.

Six years later, the STL handed its sealed indictments to Lebanon's prosecutor general Said Mirza, as the new Hezbollah-dominated government rushed to finalise its programme, expected to clarify its stance against the court.

Hariri, who was 60 at the time of his murder, headed five Lebanese governments between the years 1992 to 1998 and 2000 to 2004, when he stepped down from premiership as his differences with Lebanon's powerful neighbour Syria began to surface.

The assassination came at a time when the billionaire had begun to oppose openly the sway wielded by neighbouring Syria - Lebanon's powerbroker for nearly three decades - over his tiny Mediterranean nation.

His resignation came in protest against Damascus's decision to extend the term of pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud, then Lebanon's president, although the Saudi-backed Hariri had voted in favour of the move.

Born on November 1, 1944 to a poor farm worker from the southern city of Sidon, the slain premier's tale is one of rags-to-riches as he rose to power, merging politics and his own business interests which ranged from banking to real estate and the media.

Calm, collected and softly spoken, Hariri moved to Saudi Arabia at the age of 18, where he rose as a leading entrepreneur and was awarded the rare privilege of Saudi citizenship before breaking into the Lebanese political scene.

His admirers hailed him as the saviour of the war-ravaged economy and a philanthropist who used his wealth to help those less fortunate, opening a foundation that provides scholarships and loans to thousands of students. BEIRUT, AFP