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Six years after Rafik Hariri's death, Lebanon on verge of crisis

By Tim Lister, CNN
The investigation into the assassination of Rafik Hariri (shown in a 2000 file photo) has caused a political crisis in Lebanon.
The investigation into the assassination of Rafik Hariri (shown in a 2000 file photo) has caused a political crisis in Lebanon.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Lebanon's special tribunal into Rafik Hariri's assassination has caused divides
  • Hezbollah has harbored animosity toward the tribunal
  • Hariri's son, Saad, is to deliver remarks on his conditions for returning to government

Beirut, Lebanon (CNN) -- On a pedestrianized street in central Beirut, there are nine silver footprints set in the pavement. They mark the steps of Rafik Hariri after he left one of his favorite cafes opposite Lebanon's parliament on February 14, 2005.

Minutes later, his vehicle was blown up by a huge bomb as it passed the St. Georges Hotel on the seafront. Hariri and 21 others were killed.

Six years later, the shadow cast by that day still hangs over Lebanon, which finds itself amid a political crisis -- in part caused by a bitter divide over the country's special tribunal that is tasked with investigating Hariri's assassination.

Hariri was 61 when he was killed, a self-made Sunni billionaire of humble origins. His son Saad, 40, leads a political bloc known as "March 14," which includes prominent Christian leaders. His adversaries include the Shiite movement Hezbollah, other Sunni factions and veteran Christian politician Michel Aoun.

And always in the background is Syria, which had thousands of troops in Lebanon until mass protests after Hariri's assassination forced their withdrawal. Iran, through Hezbollah, also has growing influence here. Such is the mosaic of Lebanon's politics.

Until last month, Saad Hariri served as prime minister. Then the small party of Lebanon's Druze community led by Walid Jumblatt abandoned the coalition.

"The party will stand firm in support of Syria and the resistance," said the man who had once been a sworn enemy of the Syrian regime and was one of many Lebanese to claim publicly that Damascus was behind Rafik Hariri's assassination.

Essentially, Jumblatt chose to side with Hezbollah -- and against the work of the Tribunal.

Hezbollah's animosity toward the tribunal is based on the expectation that some of its members will be indicted as conspirators in Hariri's assassination. In attempts to discredit it, Hezbollah claims the tribunal is a plot involving the United States, Israel and France.

The tribunal's prosecutor has prepared several indictments, which have not been made public.

Negotiations to form a new government continue, led by Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati, but it seems Hariri and his supporters are preparing for a spell in opposition. His bloc wants assurances that Lebanon will cooperate with the tribunal's findings.

Hariri is due to deliver a major speech Monday on his intentions and conditions for returning to government. Some of his supporters say Hezbollah, with its powerful militia, is on its way to establishing a one-party state in Lebanon.

Hezbollah insists it wants to see a government with the widest possible participation, without resorting to sectarianism. Its deputy chief Naim Qassem said last week that the new government should "keep Lebanon away from foreign hegemony, preserve civil peace and reject submission to the conspiracy of the special tribunal."

At first glance, civil peace in Beirut does not seem at risk. Besides being prime minister of Lebanon for ten years between 1992 and 2004, Rafik Hariri was the driving force behind Beirut's renaissance as a Mediterranean jewel, investing in the restoration of a city center that not so long before had been the frontline in Lebanon's civil war.

That renaissance continues today, with gleaming apartment buildings overlooking the Corniche that runs along the sea. If you don't have at least $1 million to spend, don't think of looking. It seems every fashion store from Beverly Hills has an outlet here, catering to Gulf clients who want to escape the stultifying heat of the desert in the summer, and a growing number of wealthy Lebanese.

From dawn to dusk, cranes swing gracefully across the skyline; the drills and hammers of building projects compete with the call to prayer and church bells. Hoardings advertise luxury apartments with views of the Mediterranean and the peak of Jabal Sannin, still dusted with snow at this time of year. Occasionally you come across a building that still bears the scars of war, pock-marked by bullet holes -- but its sad facade may be partly hidden by a billboard for an upscale fashion store or luxury car.

At the weekend, families stroll along the Corniche and sit in the spring sunshine over coffee. Outside the parliament building children blow bubbles and chase balls while their fashionably dressed parents chat. It is a scene of relaxed affluence -- although the densely packed southern suburbs of the city, a Hezbollah stronghold, are certainly not as prosperous.

And yet behind this dynamic face, there is a palpable anxiety that Lebanon's parties are hardening their positions, that the country may yet slip toward another bout of sectarian violence. In a place where consensus is a rare commodity, observers across the political spectrum often use similar words about Rafik Hariri -- a giant, a phenomenon.

His absence, and the manner of his death, still colors the Lebanese mosaic.