The eldest son of murdered Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri has accepted the long-awaited verdict of the special UN-backed tribunal into the killing of his father, but said the family “must see justice” after judges found only one of four defendants guilty of involvement in the attack.
Speaking after the verdict in the years-long trial, believed to have cost $1 billion, the Saudi-Lebanese businessman said he still believed Hezbollah and the Syrian government were linked to his father's murder, as much "indirect evidence" pointed to a political assassination that could not have happened without their knowledge.
"To me, we cannot exclude ... that there is no relation," the billionaire told The National by phone from London. "How can such a huge event happen without any relation to the leadership? We have to be careful, but it is crystal clear to me that it happened in a very politically charged environment.
“I fully accept the verdict of the court, but I want to make sure to every Lebanese, the court also said there is plenty of indirect evidence that this was a political assassination, there was no political vacuum, it pointed the finger on that very, very clearly," he said.
His brother Saad, himself a former prime minister of Lebanon, who was forced to resign last year amid widespread anti-corruption protests, also accepted the court’s ruling. He repeated his brother’s message, saying: “We will not rest until punishment is served.”
The eldest brother described a painful day for the Hariri family, but one that had provided some comfort after a six-year wait for the tribunal’s conclusion.
“It was a very emotional day,” he said, a day that brought back “painful memories, because unfortunately I was there when the assassination happened. On such events, everything comes back vividly”.
He said the family had closure, “to a certain point”.
More than 15 years after a suicide truck bomb ripped through Rafik Hariri’s motorcade in central Beirut, judges at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon found the lead defendant, Salim Jamil Ayyash, guilty beyond reasonable doubt of involvement in Hariri’s murder.
Judges at the tribunal found Ayyash, a member of Lebanon’s powerful Iran-backed Shiite militia Hezbollah, to be a co-conspirator on five changes linked to the truck bombing that killed the prime minister and 21 others outside Beirut’s St George Hotel on February 14, 2005.
But a judge said prosecutors had provided insufficient evidence to prove “beyond reasonable doubt” that three accomplices – Hassan Habib Merhi, Hussein Hassan Oneissi and Assad Hassan Sabra – were behind a false claim of responsibility after the blast, a key claim in the prosecution’s case. It also found no evidence the Hezbollah leadership or Syrian government were involved in the planning or execution of the attack.
“It’s crystal-clear to the court that you had a senior member, Salim Ayyash, that was fully, fully guilty of this. He is a senior member of the political structure,” Mr Hariri said.
Ayyash is a relative of killed Hezbollah commander Imad Mugniyeh.
All suspects were tried in absentia in the politically sensitive trial, which began in 2014 and was held in the Dutch town of Leidschendam for security reasons.
They have never been found and Hezbollah refused to hand them over.
Judges on the bench, from Australia, Jamaica and Lebanon, could not find Mustafa Badreddinne – dropped from the case after he was killed in Syria in 2016 – responsible for the blast due to insufficient evidence.
The trial’s conclusion came as Lebanon reels from a massive explosion at Beirut port two weeks ago that killed at least 177 people, injured thousands, left a trail of destruction across the Lebanese capital and prompted the country’s government to resign.
Mr Hariri has blamed Hezbollah and its ally President Michael Aoun for the explosion, caused by the ignition of 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate confiscated and stored at a port hangar adjacent to the city’s populous centre. A domestic investigation is ongoing but international authorities including the FBI have arrived to assist with efforts to understand how the cache of ammonium came to be there and how it was set alight.
There remains no evidence that Hezbollah was involved in the explosion. But Lebanese protests have focused their scorn on the militia, as well as the political elite, for the wider issues of an underperforming economy and rampant corruption. The militia is viewed by Hariri supporters as sowing more division than the unity the late Hariri had envisioned.
“The Lebanese people are in unison to getting rid of Hezbollah and the warlords,” his son said. “We have an economic collapse, then the Beirut disaster, then this. I think they have a deficit of support among the population. I don’t think their situation is sustainable at all.”
Yet Tuesday’s verdict was widely perceived as a victory for Hezbollah and the government of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, who was one of Hariri’s arch-enemies. Hezbollah has been accused of resisting the efforts of the investigation and undermining it. The militia has denied any responsibility in the murder of the Lebanese prime minister and had criticised the probe as a conspiracy. After Tuesday’s verdict, the question of who ordered the killing remains unanswered.
Bahaa Hariri, whose fortune is about $2 billion, mostly from investments in property and construction, has faced accusations that he seeks to make his own inroads into Lebanon’s political scene, like his brother Saad, while the country is rocked by several crises.
But he denied such ambitions.
“I am not the type of person who precipitates any decisions, but I have decided to contribute to public life,” he said. “I have no intention to be prime minister, or [to hold] any governmental post.”
Largely silent for years before the tribunal’s verdict, Bahaa Hariri has stepped out of the shadows for what, he says, is to be a voice for change in Lebanon. In February, he issued a similar statement denying he had been playing a behind-the-scenes role from outside the country. He now works from Switzerland.
The businessman broke his silence again in May, offering his assistance to those seeking political change in Lebanon and the “revolution” against the country’s system of corruption that experts say sparked an economic crisis and the protest movement that began in October last year. Allies of his brother Saad and members of his Future Movement party questioned Hariri’s eldest son for his reappearance after years absent from Lebanese politics since the 2005 attack.
But he has remained undeterred by the criticism. After the explosion at Beirut port, he opened a Twitter account where he has become a vocal critic of the Lebanese government, their response to the blast and called for an independent, international investigation. In his statement reacting to the verdict, he said: "Lebanon is at the crossroads and staring into an abyss", that warlords have no role in the new Lebanon and that its people must "embrace a different path".
What makes him different to the very people in power who the Lebanese people are railing against? “I haven’t been in politics in 15 years, at the end you have to put the nation’s interests before yours. I have always lived by that doctrine,” he said.
As the country tries to recover from the blast, a spiking coronavirus death toll and the economic downturn, the son of the late Lebanese leader said the country now requires a political overhaul, echoing the demands of thousands of angry Lebanese who have taken to the streets since October.
“We need a new government, a non-sectarian government, that can move the country forward,” he said.
The priorities for a new government must be “construction and aid” and then constitutional and electoral reforms.
But his last message was reserved for his brother, Saad, who attended the trial, but with whom he did not speak on Tuesday.
“I want to send my deepest condolences to all of my brothers and sisters. We are one family.
“It’s a very painful day for all of us,” he said. “But, at the end of the day, we are the Hariri family.”
MATCH INFO
Real Madrid 2 (Benzema 13', Kroos 28')
Barcelona 1 (Mingueza 60')
Red card: Casemiro (Real Madrid)
Points about the fast fashion industry Celine Hajjar wants everyone to know
- Fast fashion is responsible for up to 10 per cent of global carbon emissions
- Fast fashion is responsible for 24 per cent of the world's insecticides
- Synthetic fibres that make up the average garment can take hundreds of years to biodegrade
- Fast fashion labour workers make 80 per cent less than the required salary to live
- 27 million fast fashion workers worldwide suffer from work-related illnesses and diseases
- Hundreds of thousands of fast fashion labourers work without rights or protection and 80 per cent of them are women
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 620hp from 5,750-7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm from 3,000-5,750rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh1.05 million ($286,000)
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
So what is Spicy Chickenjoy?
Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
What should do investors do now?
What does the S&P 500's new all-time high mean for the average investor?
Should I be euphoric?
No. It's fine to be pleased about hearty returns on your investments. But it's not a good idea to tie your emotions closely to the ups and downs of the stock market. You'll get tired fast. This market moment comes on the heels of last year's nosedive. And it's not the first or last time the stock market will make a dramatic move.
So what happened?
It's more about what happened last year. Many of the concerns that triggered that plunge towards the end of last have largely been quelled. The US and China are slowly moving toward a trade agreement. The Federal Reserve has indicated it likely will not raise rates at all in 2019 after seven recent increases. And those changes, along with some strong earnings reports and broader healthy economic indicators, have fueled some optimism in stock markets.
"The panic in the fourth quarter was based mostly on fears," says Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist for Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company. "The fundamentals have mostly held up, while the fears have gone away and the fears were based mostly on emotion."
Should I buy? Should I sell?
Maybe. It depends on what your long-term investment plan is. The best advice is usually the same no matter the day — determine your financial goals, make a plan to reach them and stick to it.
"I would encourage (investors) not to overreact to highs, just as I would encourage them not to overreact to the lows of December," Mr Schutte says.
All the same, there are some situations in which you should consider taking action. If you think you can't live through another low like last year, the time to get out is now. If the balance of assets in your portfolio is out of whack thanks to the rise of the stock market, make adjustments. And if you need your money in the next five to 10 years, it shouldn't be in stocks anyhow. But for most people, it's also a good time to just leave things be.
Resist the urge to abandon the diversification of your portfolio, Mr Schutte cautions. It may be tempting to shed other investments that aren't performing as well, such as some international stocks, but diversification is designed to help steady your performance over time.
Will the rally last?
No one knows for sure. But David Bailin, chief investment officer at Citi Private Bank, expects the US market could move up 5 per cent to 7 per cent more over the next nine to 12 months, provided the Fed doesn't raise rates and earnings growth exceeds current expectations. We are in a late cycle market, a period when US equities have historically done very well, but volatility also rises, he says.
"This phase can last six months to several years, but it's important clients remain invested and not try to prematurely position for a contraction of the market," Mr Bailin says. "Doing so would risk missing out on important portfolio returns."
Brief scores:
Toss: Kerala Knights, opted to fielf
Pakhtoons 109-5 (10 ov)
Fletcher 32; Lamichhane 3-17
Kerala Knights 110-2 (7.5 ov)
Morgan 46 not out, Stirling 40
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Results
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,200m. Winner: Majd Al Megirat, Sam Hitchcott (jockey), Ahmed Al Shehhi (trainer)
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m. Winner: Dassan Da, Patrick Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi
6pm: Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 (T) 1,400m. Winner: Heba Al Wathba, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roualle
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Colts Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 (T) 1,400m. Winner: Hameem, Adrie de Vries, Abdallah Al Hammadi
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m. Winner: Jawal Al Reef, Richard Mullen, Ahmed Al Mehairbi
Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 (T) 2,200m. Winner: Harbour Spirit, Adrie de Vries, Jaber Ramadhan.
MATCH INFO
UAE Division 1
Abu Dhabi Harlequins 12-24 Abu Dhabi Saracens
Brief scoreline:
Manchester United 0
Manchester City 2
Bernardo Silva 54', Sane 66'
Destroyer
Director: Karyn Kusama
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Toby Kebbell, Sebastian Stan
Rating: 3/5
UAE release: January 31
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Medicus AI
Started: 2016
Founder(s): Dr Baher Al Hakim, Dr Nadine Nehme and Makram Saleh
Based: Vienna, Austria; started in Dubai
Sector: Health Tech
Staff: 119
Funding: €7.7 million (Dh31m)
MATCH INFO
What: 2006 World Cup quarter-final
When: July 1
Where: Gelsenkirchen Stadium, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Result:
England 0 Portugal 0
(Portugal win 3-1 on penalties)
Switching%20sides
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%3Cp%3EMATA%0D%3Cbr%3EArtist%3A%20M.I.A%0D%3Cbr%3ELabel%3A%20Island%0D%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
'Munich: The Edge of War'
Director: Christian Schwochow
Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewohner, Jeremy Irons
Rating: 3/5
THREE
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Nayla%20Al%20Khaja%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Jefferson%20Hall%2C%20Faten%20Ahmed%2C%20Noura%20Alabed%2C%20Saud%20Alzarooni%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
SPECS
Toyota land Cruiser 2020 5.7L VXR
Engine: 5.7-litre V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 362hp
Torque: 530Nm
Price: Dh329,000 (base model 4.0L EXR Dh215,900)
Tips to stay safe during hot weather
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
- Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
- Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
- Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
- Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
- Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
- Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
The specs: 2019 Haval H6
Price, base: Dh69,900
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 197hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 315Nm @ 2,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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1.
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United States
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2.
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China
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3.
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UAE
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4.
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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6.
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Canada
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7.
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Singapore
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8.
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Australia
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9.
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Saudi Arabia
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10.
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South Korea
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RESULTS
5pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner AF Nashrah, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
5.30pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner Mutaqadim, Riccardo Iacopini, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami.
6pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Hameem, Jose Santiago, Abdallah Al Hammadi.
6.30pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner AF Almomayaz, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
7pm Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner Dalil Al Carrere, Fernando Jara, Mohamed Daggash.
7.30pm Handicap (TB) Dh70,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner Lahmoom, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.
8pm Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner Jayide Al Boraq, Bernardo Pinheiro, Khalifa Al Neyadi.
Specs%3A%202024%20McLaren%20Artura%20Spider
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203.0-litre%20twin-turbo%20V6%20and%20electric%20motor%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EMax%20power%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20700hp%20at%207%2C500rpm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EMax%20torque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20720Nm%20at%202%2C250rpm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Eight-speed%20dual-clutch%20auto%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E0-100km%2Fh%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203.0sec%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETop%20speed%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E330kph%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20From%20Dh1.14%20million%20(%24311%2C000)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
