Hariri's Game

international | anti-war / imperialism | other press Wednesday February 16, 2005 11:33 by obit

"Mr Lebanon" is dead.

The Lebanon is familiar to many Irish, the former French posession saw the Irish army serve with the United Nations in peace keeping operations throughout the late XX century.

In that time, one man came to epitomise Lebanese politics and further became the richest man in the state. Rafik al Hariri was assasinated in a car bomb on St Valentine's day 2005.

Five times prime minister of Lebanon; he resigned as premier for the last time in October 2004 after differences with the Lebanese President Emile Lahoud.

Hariri was widely credited in the western world with getting Lebanon "back on its feet" after the civil war which ended in 1992. By that is meant he consolidated control of all the major businesses and the Lebanese people for the most part went unshod.

We in indymedia ireland know a lot about the Lebanon.

Hariri's was a rags to riches story. Worth some £2.7 billion by the time of his death, he was born into a poor farming family 60 years ago. After training as an accountant, he journeyed east to the Gulf in the 1970s and then made his fortune in Saudi Arabia, earning the confidence of King Fahd as a contractor and builder. The firm he founded in 1978, Saudi Oger, is now a leading force in major construction projects throughout the world.

His return home to Lebanon in 1983 marked a decade in which the billionaire entrepreneur turned politician and mediated between Lebanese militias which include the illegal Hezbollah and defunct Druze formations, using his Saudi connections. As such he was similar in many ways to neighbouring egyptian educated billionaire Yasser Arafat.

As prime minister, he attracted foreign direct investment to his bankrupt country and set up private firms to rebuild the heart of Beirut, which had been the thriving centre of the Mediterranean in the 1960s. But he very quickly ran the state into crippling debt again.

Rafik al-Hariri was born on November 1 1944 After labouring on fruit farms around Sidon his birthplace, he worked as a trainee accountant in Beirut before emigrating to Saudi Arabia, where he at first taught Arabic and did odd jobs as a book-keeper.

His lucky break came when he joined the construction industry and, after establishing his own firm, came to the attention of Prince Fahd, who succeeded to the throne in the 1980s.

As was proven in Northern Ireland in the 1970s construction is a very good sector for politicians to invest in, especially if there's a war on.

In 1987, Hariri became a Saudi citizen after completing a £78.5 million hotel for an Islamic conference in a record eight months. His construction company is run by his son Saadeddine, along with three other family members who sit on the board, but his commercial empire extends to computers, banking, insurance, real estate, and Lebanon's Future Television.

There is no doubt that Hariri enjoyed his reputation as "Mr Lebanon". When it was once suggested to him that the Lebanese economy would collapse if he died, he replied: "So, keep me alive." Hariri formed five cabinets and served as premier for 10 of the 14 years from 1992 until he stepped down.

Hariri was planning a political comeback in the May 2005 elections, having resigned for the last time as premier following the extension of President Lahoud's term of office, which was secured by a Syrian-backed amendment to the constitution opposed by Hariri.

The extension was in defiance of a UN Security Council resolution that called for a withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon and for presidential elections.

As part of the peace process which ended the civil war, Syria continues to keep 15,000 troops stationed in Lebanon. In addition to the native workforce (8% of whom are permenantly unemployed) there are almost one million Syrian migrant workers.

The USA has withcalled its ambassador to Syria in its immediate reaction to the death of Mr Hariri and called on the UN to open an international investigation.

Popular feeling on the streets of Beirut has turned against Syria, with thousands of mourners chating anti-Syrian slogans.

The Spanish foreign minister has said that the killing of Hariri :- "could destabilise the region".

Condolence Rice during her visit to France remarked that Syria must not be tolerated in its destabilisation of the region, has not so far made a comment on recent events in the former French territory and how they effect the road map to peace in the countries of Palestine and Israel to the south of Beirut.

You can search our articles on Lebanon, there over 80 using "the search engine" but here's a good place to start-
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=19083&search_text=lebanon&results_offset=60