REPORT: Hariri from BIEL: Hezbollah does not represent Lebanon's Shiites

On the commemoration of the 8th anniversary since the assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri, political figures and crowds flocked on Thursday to the tomb where he and his companions lay in Downtown Beirut.

Later in the day, a ceremony was held at Biel where Former PM Saad Hariri, who is currently outside Lebanon, addressed March 14’s supporters via satellite.

"This is the 8th year and we remain strong and our faith is strong in Rafik Hariri's cause," he said. "Your [Rafik Hariri's] tomb marks the fine line between good and evil."

Referring to the March 8 bloc, he said "they have attempted to weaken the March 14 movement through power, money and terror, but they have all failed."

Hariri stressed that Rafik Hariri's blood is stronger than the "party of arms" [Hezbollah] and the terror plots of Mamlouk et al. "They killed Brigadier General Wissam Hassan because he exposed their plot," he said, saluting his memory.

Hariri renewed his pledge to protecting Lebanon and coexistence. "I admit that there are challenges, of which some want to take advantage of," he said.

On the upcoming parliamentary elections, he said that those who raise the flags of their sect rather than the Lebanese flag, will not win, stressing that he will be in Lebanon for the elections "regardless of the law adopted."

"The real golden triangle is: coexistence, impartiality, authoritarian exclusivity," he said, in contrast to the formula voiced by the March 8 bloc and the Resistance and which sets "the Resistance, the People and the Army" as a formula of three components dedicated to the defense of the country.

"All the Lebanese people know that extra-state arms are causing sectarian strife and organized crime/terror," he said, considering that illegal weapons in the possession of Palestinians or other groups are "the direct result of Hezbollah's threat." "All extra state arms including those of  Hezbollah and Fatah al-Islam should be confiscated," he said. He then added that the problem is not solely related to Arsal, but is caused by the hegemony of arms across the country.

Hariri stressed that Hezbollah cannot imagine Lebanon without its "Iranian built military organization", adding "we do not believe that Hezbollah represents the Shi'ite community in Lebanon since Shiites existed for a thousand years in Lebanon before Iran's Hezbollah came along."

Hariri reassured the Lebanese that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon is advancing, and that criminals will be punished. "How can Hezbollah remain in the dark for so long?" he wondered, "how can Hezbollah not deliver the 4 suspects involved in the assassination of Rafik Hariri?"

"Denying the role of Hezbollah's arms in the political life is the root of the problem."

On Syria, Hariri stressed that Assad's regime will fall "there is no doubt", adding that no longer will one group overpower another in Lebanon.

Prior to Hariri's speech March 14’s Secretary General Fares Soueid also delivered a word on this occasion. He said that Lebanon is in danger "due to policies tying it to Syria's Baath party."

"We are stretching our arm out to all those with good intentions, inviting them to join our reconstructive work," he said.

Soueid considered that the Lebanese war did not end in the 1990's, "but it ended when all partisans returned to the authority of the state," adding that reconstructing the state cannot occur under the conditions of "militias and hegemonic/religious parties," referring to Hezbollah and the March 8 bloc.

"We must reconsider politics, freeing it from sectarianism and transforming March14 to an inter-confessional party," he said, adding that since the assassination of late Rafik Hariri, we realized our power and potential exemplified in the freedom of Lebanon.

Earlier, Nazek Hariri, widow of late PM Rafik Harir and mother of former PM Saad Hariri said on this occasion that the Lebanese state cannot be built without dialogue, solidarity, coexistence and the protection of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

On 14 February 2005, Rafik Hariri, the former Prime Minister of Lebanon, was killed, along with 21 others, when explosives equivalent to around 1,000 kilograms of TNT (2,200 pounds) were detonated as his convoy drove near the St. George Hotel in Beirut. Among the dead were several of Hariri's bodyguards and his friend and former Minister of the Economy Bassel Fleihan. Hariri was buried along with his bodyguards, who died in the bombing, in a location near Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque.


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