Rafic Hariri

Rafic Hariri
رفيق بهاء الدين الحريري
Hariri in 2004
Prime Minister of Lebanon
In office 26 October 2000 – 26 October 2004
President	Émile Lahoud
Deputy	Issam Fares
Preceded by	Selim Hoss
Succeeded by	Omar Karami
In office 31 October 1992 – 4 December 1998
President	Elias Hrawi Émile Lahoud
Preceded by	Rachid Solh
Succeeded by	Selim Hoss
Ministerial portfolios
1992-1998	Finance
Personal details
Born	(1944-11-01)1 November 1944 Sidon, Lebanon
Died	14 February 2005(2005-02-14) (aged 60) Beirut, Lebanon
Manner of death	Assassination
Political party	Future
Spouses	Nidal Bustani ​ ​ (m. 1965; div. 1974)​ Nazik Hariri ​ (m. 1976)​
Children	Bahaa, Saad, Houssam, Ayman, Fahd, Hind

This article is part of a series on
Hariri family
People Bahaa Hariri Rafic Hariri Nazik Hariri Saad Hariri Bahia Hariri Ahmad Hariri Fahd Hariri Ayman Hariri Hind Hariri
Events Syrian occupation of Lebanon Assassination of Rafic Hariri Cedar Revolution Hariri Tribunal 2017 Lebanon–Saudi Arabia dispute 2017 Saudi Arabian purge
Organizations Future Movement March 14 alliance Future TV Saudi Oger Daily Star Radio Orient Al-Mustaqbal
Namesakes Rafik Hariri International airport Rafic Hariri Stadium Rafik Hariri University Hospital Rafik Hariri monument
v t e

Rafic Bahaa El Deen al-Hariri^[a] (Arabic: رفيق بهاء الدين الحريري, romanized: Rafīq Bahāʾ ad-Dīn al-Ḥarīrī; 1 November 1944 – 14 February 2005) was a Lebanese businessman and politician who served as prime minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2000 to 2004.

Hariri headed five cabinets during his tenure. He was widely credited for his role in constructing the Taif Agreement that ended the 15-year Lebanese Civil War. He also played a huge role in reconstructing the Lebanese capital, Beirut. He was the first post-civil war prime minister and the most influential and wealthiest Lebanese politician at the time. During Hariri's first term as prime minister, tensions between Israel and Lebanon increased, as a result of the Qana massacre. In 2000, during his second premiership, his biggest achievement was the Israeli withdrawal from Southern Lebanon, ending an 18-year old occupation, while his government solidified relations with Ba'athist Syria.

On 14 February 2005, Hariri was assassinated in a suicide truck bomb explosion in Beirut. Four Hezbollah members were indicted for the assassination and are being tried in absentia by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, but others have linked the assassination to the Syrian government. The outcome of a 15-year investigation led to the guilty verdict of multiple people in Hezbollah's party taking part; however, the only one left alive would be Salim Ayyash, a well-connected, mid-level operative in Hezbollah.^[1] The assassination was a catalyst for dramatic political change in Lebanon. The massive protests of the Cedar Revolution helped achieve the withdrawal of Syrian troops and security forces from Lebanon and a change in government.

At one point, Hariri was one of the world's 100 wealthiest men^[2] and the fourth-richest politician.^[3]

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