Saad Hariri
Saad El-Din Rafik Al-Hariri is a Lebanese politician who was the Prime Minister of Lebanon from 18 December 2016 to 21 January 2020. He was also the Prime Minister from 9 November 2009 to 13 June 2011. He is the second son of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, who was assassinated in 2005. Hariri has also been the leader of the Future Movement party since 2005. He is seen as "the strongest figurehead" of the March 14 Alliance. After three years living overseas, he returned to Lebanon on 8 August 2014 and was designated Prime Minister on 3 November 2016. Hariri's surprise announcement of an intent to resign, broadcast on 4 November 2017 on Saudi state TV, has widely been seen as part of the Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict in Lebanon, and triggered a dispute between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. The resignation was later suspended, following President Michel Aoun's request to "put it on hold ahead of further consultations". On October 29, 2019, amid the 2019–20 Lebanese protests, Hariri announced his resignation, and that of his cabinet.
Early years
Saad Hariri was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on 18 April 1970, and is the son of Rafic Hariri and his first wife Nidal Bustani, an Iraqi. In addition to his native Arabic, Hariri speaks English, French and Italian. He graduated in 1992 from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University with a degree in business administration.Business activities
Prior to entering politics, Hariri was the chairman of the executive committee of Oger Telecom, which pursued telecommunication interests in the Middle East and Africa, from 1994 to 2005. In addition, Hariri was the chairman of Omnia Holdings and a board member of Oger International Entreprise de Travaux Internationaux, Saudi Oger, Saudi Investment Bank, Saudi Research and Marketing Group and Lebanese television channel Future TV.Political career
On 20 April 2005, the Hariri family announced that Saad Hariri would lead the Future Movement, an essentially Sunni movement that was created and led by his late father. He was the leader of the March 14 Alliance, a coalition of political groups born out of the Cedar Revolution which, through mass popular demonstrations and Western support, led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon in 2005 after a 29-year presence.First tenure and collapse
Hariri was first elected prime minister from 9 November 2009 until 13 June 2011.On 12 January 2011, minutes after Hariri posed for pictures with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office, the opposition parties resigned from his unity government cabinet, causing its collapse. The withdrawal of Hezbollah and its allies was due to political tensions arising from investigations into the assassination of Rafic Hariri. Hezbollah operatives had been accused of the assassination of Rafic Hariri.
Hariri continued on for four months as caretaker Prime Minister. The new Lebanese government was formed on 13 June 2011 and headed by Najib Mikati. Mikati created an 8 March-led government coalition.
Syrian arrest warrant
On 12 December 2012, Syria issued a warrant for the arrest of Hariri, Future bloc deputy Okab Sakr and Free Syrian Army official Louay Almokdad on charges of arming and providing financial support for Syrian opposition groups. Hariri released a statement in response, describing Bashar Assad as a "monster".Second tenure
Following more than two years of deadlock in electing a president, Michel Aoun was elected. Shortly after, Aoun signed a decree appointing Hariri as prime minister for the second time and he took office on 18 December 2016.Dispute with Saudi Arabia
On 4 November 2017, in a televised statement from Saudi Arabia, Hariri tendered his resignation from office, citing Iran’s and Hezbollah's political over-extension in the Middle East region and fears of assassination. Iran vehemently rejected Saad Hariri's remarks and called his resignation part of a plot by the United States, Israel, and Saudi Arabia to heighten Middle Eastern tensions. The Lebanese Army responded with a statement that intelligence in its possession in addition to ongoing arrests and investigations had not revealed “the presence of any plan for assassinations in the country.”Most Iran-leaning or Shia-aligned Lebanese groups, including Hezbollah, were among the first to accuse Saudi Arabia of holding Hariri hostage; Hariri's associates and Saudi officials subsequently denied this. Several Lebanese commentators poked fun at the released pictures of Hariri in Saudi Arabia for their apparent similarity to those taken of hostages. Anti-Hezbollah blogger Michael Young stated that he did not think Hariri was an actual hostage of the Saudi regime, but that the situation confirmed Hariri's close ties with them. However, Lebanese-American political scientist As'ad AbuKhalil claimed that the Saudis had jailed and physically restrained and assaulted Hariri before ordering him to broadcast his resignation. In November, it was announced that Hariri was on his way from Saudi Arabia to the United Arab Emirates. Hariri's own party's media outlet reported that he would then move on to Bahrain and later back to Beirut, but both of these trips were subsequently cancelled and he was sent back to Riyadh. Hariri's allies, who usually aligned with Saudi Arabia, then joined the other parties in their concern for Hariri's freedom being limited by Saudi Arabia. The majority of the Lebanese government requested his return. On 11 November, Lebanese President Michel Aoun released the statement: "Lebanon does not accept its prime minister being in a situation at odds with international treaties and the standard rules in relations between states."
Later in November, Hariri left for France to meet French President Emmanuel Macron. Macron specifically requested he take his wife and children along with him. He was able to make such a request due to Hariri's French citizenship. Hariri declared in Beirut on 21 November that he had suspended his resignation. He stated that President Michel Aoun had asked him to "put it on hold ahead of further consultations". He refused to talk about what happened in Saudi Arabia and claimed that events will remain undisclosed. He rescinded his resignation on 5 December and stated that all members of the government had agreed to stay out of conflicts in Arab countries.
2019 protests and resignation
In mid-October 2019, a popular protest movement began calling for increased accountability and transparency in politics. His government was widely viewed as corrupt by the Lebanese people. On 29 October, Hariri offered his resignation as a concession, saying "This is in response to the will and demand of the thousands of Lebanese demanding change". The following day, President Michel Aoun accepted the resignation but requested that Hairi remain in office till a successor was appointed. Hassan Diab, the former Education minister was appointed to the role on 21 January 2020.Honors
In 2007, French president Jacques Chirac awarded Saad Hariri the Légion d'honneur, a French order of merit.Personal life
Saad Hariri born in 1970 in Riyadh is the second son of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri and his first wife Nidal Bustani, an Iraqi. He has an older brother Bahaa Hariri and another brother Houssam Hariri who died young in a traffic accident. After his parents divorced, his father married Nazik Hariri in 1976. Saad Hariri has two half-brothers and one half-sister from his father's second marriage: Ayman Hariri,, Fahd Hariri, and Hind Hariri, a sister.Hariri holds multiple citizenships: Lebanese, Saudi Arabian and French. He married Lara Al Azem in 1998, the daughter of Bashir Al Azem, an influential and wealthy Syrian construction magnate. They have three children: Houssam, Loulwa, and Abdulaziz.
Hariri lived in Paris from 2011 to 2014 for safety reasons, and returned to Lebanon on 8 August 2014.
In 2011, he was said to have a net worth of $2 billion. As of May 2018, his net worth is estimated to be $1.36 billion.
In 2013, Hariri allegedly paid his South African energy drink saleswoman and escort, Candice van der Merwe, a $16 million cash gift after meeting her in the Seychelles. In 2019, South African courts sued van der Merwe for failing to pay income taxes on the amount, despite her claims that it was a gift.