Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri declared on Friday the 'revolution of freedom' as victorious at The Hague, in reference to the Special Tribunal held to try the alleged perpetrators of the 2005 bombing in which his father, former PM Rafik Hariri and 21 others were killed.
"Walking in to the court room of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon I felt that the sound of justice was much more powerful than that of the blast that killed late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri."
At a rally marking the 9th anniversary of late Prime Minister's assassination at the Beirut International Exhibition & Leisure Center (BIEL), Hariri said the 5 persons accused in the killing of his father, along with another accused of being behind the assassination attempt of MP Boutros Harb remain at large, adding that “those accused of the explosions that targeted the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli although well known, have also remained out of the law's reach since they are covered by an armed party [Hezbollah].”
The Future Movement will never resemble Hezbollah, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or the Al-Nusra Front, he stressed, emphasizing that the Movement will not accept dragging Sunnis in Lebanon into the war taking place between Hezbollah and Al-Qaeda.
Hariri continued his speech by saying that Lebanese martyrs were not killed so that Lebanon would become a safe haven for terrorism, since that would mean the assassination of his father for the second time.
“Lebanon’s stability stands above all other considerations, and claims that we want to isolate the Shiite sect are baseless,” Hariri continued.
"Hezbollah is not willing to cooperate with or listen to any other Lebanese party, its main aim is to drag Lebanon into the abyss."
"Unrest in Lebanon’s Arsal, Hermel, Akkar, and South Beirut is the result of Hezbollah’s involvement in the Syrian crisis," he added, stating that the death toll and the economic losses entailed should be enough of a cause for some sides to reconsider their involvement in Syria.
Addressing President Michel Sleiman, Hariri said “ending Lebanon's involvement in Syria is the first step towards ending terrorism in the country.”
Hariri also mentioned that confronting terrorism requires adherence to the Baabda Declaration, strengthening the Lebanese Army, and controlling the Lebanese-Syrian borders.
Nine years after late Rafik Hariri’s assassination, former PM Saad Hariri asked whether Lebanon deserves life or death, pointing out that the Future Movement represents moderation and will stand against all forms of extremism.
"The Future Movement will cease to exist if it fails to follow Rafik Hariri's example," he warned, stressing that the said movement follows a line of politicians who sacrificed their lives for the sake of the country.
“We will not lead our people to their death, nor will we point them in the direction of humiliation, and fear for the sake of foreign interests,” Hariri added.
At the rally, March 14 deputies announced that they decided to submit to the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon a petition demanding the expansion of the Special Tribunal’s jurisdiction to involve all the assassinations that followed that of late MP Gebran Toueini.
Earlier, Nazik Hariri, the widow of late PM Rafik Hariri, delivered a speech to mark the ninth anniversary of Hariri's assassination. Hariri stressed the need to build a unified state and to lay political differences aside.
In turn, Future bloc MP Ghazi Youssef said justice will not bring former PM Hariri back to life, adding however that it will protect Lebanon.
"Rafik Hariri did not lose hope and confirmed that the state will take full control of the Lebanese territories," MP Youssef said.
The trial in absentia of the four suspects accused of killing Lebanese statesman Rafik Hariri opened in The Hague on Thursday January 16th, nine years after the bomb attack in which the former PM and 21 others died.
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon was set up by the United Nations at the Lebanese government's request to try the alleged perpetrators of the 2005 bombing in which former PM Hariri and 21 others were killed.
The suspects - Mustafa Amine Badreddine, a senior Hezbollah figure and brother-in-law of slain Hezbollah commander Imad Moughniyeh, Salim Jamil Ayyash, Hussein Hassan Oneissi and Assad Hassan Sabra - remain at large.
To watch Rima Assaf's report, please click on the VIDEO above