U.N. Tribunal issues verdict on assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister
Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri addresses the media after a tribunal ruled on the death of his father. Source: AP Photos/Lauren van Puttens.
After a lengthy and expensive investigation, a U.N. tribunal in The Hague has convicted just one of the four suspects in the assassination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri in 2005. Many Lebanese citizens are dissatisfied with the verdict; all four men were tried in absentia, so the convicted Salim Ayyash remains at large. Ayyash is a mid-level operative of Hezbollah, a Shi’ite militant group based in Lebanon. The leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, has stated repeatedly that Ayyash will not be turned over to the court, continuing a general policy of dismissal of the U.N.’s Special Tribunal for Lebanon, a body which Hezbollah sees as a Western infringement in Lebanese affairs.
The Lebanese political system is extremely complicated, but most parties and individuals fall into one of two categories: pro-Syria (March 8 Alliance), or anti-Syria (March 14 Alliance). Pro-Syrian parties want a stronger relationship with Iran and Russia, while anti-Syrian parties want deeper ties with the West. The balance between these factions is delicately maintained by a complex diffusion of political power across Lebanon’s diverse regions, religions, and ethnic groups. No single religious sect constitutes a majority: both main sects of Islam are equally represented, as well as various Christian denominations and other religious groups including Druzes and Jews.
Prime Minister Hariri took an anti-Syrian political position while in office, enjoying close ties with Saudi Arabia, the United States, and France. Before Hariri’s assassination, the Syrian military occupied Lebanon. Hariri was the main leader of the anti-Syrian position at the time of his death. He remains a polarizing figure in Lebanon, with proponents praising his educational and financial reforms in the wake of a devastating civil war, while opponents cite corruption and negotiating peace with Israel as grievances.
In the 2005 attack, Hariri was slain, along with 21 others, by an explosion detonated by a suicide bomber driving a truck. Initially, “The Nasra & Jihad Group in Greater Syria" claimed responsibility for the attack, but the group had never been heard from before, and attempts to investigate them further were fruitless. Suspicion quickly turned to Hezbollah and Syria, where President Bashar Al-Assad recently threatened to “destroy Lebanon” if Hariri tried to contest his influence. Despite the conviction of Ayyash, a Hezbollah operative, the tribunal found that “there was no evidence that the leadership of Hezbollah or Syria were involved.”
The underwhelming verdict comes amidst a political and economic crisis in Lebanon. Popular unrest began in October of 2019 with large scale protests due to high unemployment (reaching 46% at its peak), corruption, and lack of government accountability. The chaos caused then-Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the son of the late Rafic Hariri, to resign from his position as head of government that same month. Just a few weeks ago, an explosion in Beirut killed hundreds and displaced thousands, with many Lebanese citizens citing government negligence as the cause of the explosion. This stoked further tensions and protests in the country culminating in the resignation of the next Prime Minister, Hassan Diab, on August 10th.
The Lebanese people have long cried out for justice and accountability for their politicians as well as the people who have assassinated them. With only a single conviction of a low-level Hezbollah field operative, the question of who orchestrated the assassination remains unanswered. With Lebanon’s executive branch vacant, the murder of one of their most important political figures unsolved, and widespread poverty and devastation, the country is likely to continue destabilizing in the coming decade.