LONDON, 15 February 2005 — The bomb blast in central Beirut that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri is sending shockwaves around the globe, prompting outrage, finger-pointing and message of sympathy from world leaders and fear from the Lebanese of a return to the violence and bloody destruction of the past.
US President George W. Bush condemned the “brutal attack” while his administration used the opportunity to tell Syria to withdraw its 14,000 troops from Lebanon.
The assassination came at a time of high political tension in Lebanon, with legislative elections due in a few months, and as international pressure mounts over Syria’s dominant presence in Lebanese domestic affairs.
French President Jacques Chirac called for an investigation. “France strongly condemns this crime. It asks that an international inquiry be launched without delay to determine the circumstances of this tragedy,” Chirac’s office said in a statement in Paris.
Across the Middle East, officials expressed concern about Lebanon’s stability, with Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa saying: “I hope we will all contribute to maintaining peace and security in Lebanon.”
Lebanon’s pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud said his political foe had died a “martyr for a united Lebanon”, ordering three days of mourning and a state funeral for Hariri.
In Damascus, Syrian President Bashar Assad condemned the assassination as a “terrible criminal act” and voiced solidarity with “brotherly Lebanon in this dangerous situation”.
Iran also expressed concern about the fallout of what it condemned as a “terrorist act” — and pointed the finger at Israel.
For many Lebanese around the world, it was a grim reminder of a violent past that tore their country apart — and threatens to do so again.
“We couldn’t believe it,” said Valencia, a Christian-Lebanese college student living in Sharjah, UAE. “Rafiq Hariri was not simply a former prime minister of our country. He was part and parcel of Lebanon’s recovery and return to normality. Whoever carried out the bombing that killed him is definitely an enemy of the people of Lebanon.”
Rashid Kurdi, an Emirates resident is in his 60s who lived through some of the worst years of the 1974-1992 Lebanese Civil War, said he feared a re-eruption of sectarian violence in the country following Hariri’s death.
“People saw in Hariri the hope that the political-sectarian-religious balance could be maintained since he was a no-nonsense man,” Kurdi told Arab News.
“The violence with which Hariri was killed was definitely intentional and aimed at creating panic and terrifying the Lebanese people into undertaking actions that could rekindle the civil war,” he said.
In London, Inayat Bunglawala, spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain, stressed that “this is a terribly sad event in the terribly sad recent history of Lebanon. We hope that the Lebanese government will quickly apprehend the terrorists who carried out this ghastly crime.”
British Muslim organizations closely linked with the Middle East, such as the Middle East Association (MEA), are hoping that this incident is isolated and not a return to the “bad old days of the Lebanese Civil War.”
Imam Abdul Jalil Sajid, director of the Brighton Mosque, condemned the brutal killing and stressed that Hariri “worked hard to unite the various Lebanese communities and to bring stability to the country.”
“No words can express the loss to Lebanon and its citizens,” Lebanese national Hisham Al-Baradie told Arab News in Manama, Bahrain. “He has done so much. He has donated money and effort into charity projects They are countless and cover a wide spectrum of fields,” said the chief executive of World Travel Services. “He was Lebanon’s father. After the war he had a mission to rebuild Lebanon. Tourism increased, and Lebanon was gaining back its glory.”
In Cairo, Lebanese feared the killing might slow the incredible economic rebound that has brought prosperity once again to Lebanon.
“I believe that this is the biggest attack in Beirut since the Civil War, and it will shake the country’s stability for sometime,” said Asharaf Qassem, a Lebanese manager of Al-Zamel, a steel company in Cairo. “The business and trade movement will be not be considerably affected, but surely what happened will have some implications on the business environment there since Hariri himself was a famous businessman,” Qassem told Arab News.
A Lebanese legal and business analyst at Denton Wilde Sapte, an international legal consultancy service company, said the Lebanese economy will be “temporarily” hit by Hariri’s death.
“I think that whoever is behind this attack wanted to deal a big blow to Lebanon and its economy,” said the analyst who asked not to be identified. “The Lebanese economy will be in chaos, especially the stock market. We should also expect a drop in the number of tourists flocking to Lebanon at least until the investigations reveal who is behind the assassination.”
Meanwhile, Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmad Nazif called on the Lebanese people to keep the unity and stability of Lebanon, the vision that Hariri himself worked hard to achieve.
Tributes poured in for Hariri, a political veteran who resigned four months ago, with France honoring “the man who personified the unshakable willingness to pursue independence, freedom and democracy in Lebanon.”
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana hailed Hariri as “a man of peace and a great friend” who had been able to “put an end to years of war in Lebanon and rebuild the country.”
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf declared a day of mourning and called Hariri a “great statesman,” saying he had “worked hard to strengthen relations between Pakistan and Lebanon.”
“The assassination of Hariri is a huge loss to Lebanon and its citizens,” said Dr. Muhammad Abdul Ghaffar, Bahraini minister of information and minister of state for foreign affairs. “Bahrain as a government and people would like to extend its condolences to the Lebanese government and the family of Hariri.”
“It is a great loss,” said First Deputy Speaker of the Bahrain Chamber of Deputies Abdul Hadi Marhoon. “He single handedly turned Lebanon from a war-torn nation into a major tourism hub. Many Lebanese nationals were educated on his behalf. He molded a string of doctors, lawyers and future leaders.”
“Hariri’s death is a great loss to Lebanon,” said UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al-Nahayan.
He also expressed the UAE’s sympathy to the Hariri family and called on the Lebanese people to “demonstrate coherence and to enhance national unity in this critical time so the perpetrators of this crime, who are the enemies of Lebanon would not have the opportunity to target the country’s unity and stability and to sow sedition among its people.”
