Assassination of Rafic Hariri

For the bombing in the Philippines on the same day, see 2005 Valentine's Day bombings.

Assassination of Rafic Hariri
A Lebanese Internal Security Forces officer guarding the site of the assassination
Assassination of Rafic Hariri is located in Beirut
Assassination of Rafic Hariri
Assassination of Rafic Hariri is located in Lebanon
Assassination of Rafic Hariri
LocationBeirut, Lebanon
Coordinates33°54′07″N 35°29′40″E / 33.90194°N 35.49444°E / 33.90194; 35.49444
Date14 February 2005; 19 years ago (2005-02-14)
TargetRafic Hariri
Attack type
Truck bombing by Hezbollah
WeaponsTruck bomb
Deaths22
Injured220
ConvictedSalim Ayyash the man in Hezbollah

On 14 February 2005, former Prime Minister of Lebanon Rafic Hariri was assassinated along with 21 others in an explosion in Beirut, Lebanon. Explosives equivalent to around 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds) of TNT were detonated as his motorcade drove near the St. George Hotel. Among the dead were several of Hariri's bodyguards and former Minister of the Economy, Bassel Fleihan.

Hariri had been part of the anti-Syrian opposition in Lebanon. His assassination triggered the Cedar Revolution, a popular movement which forced Syria to withdraw all its troops in Lebanon by April 2005.[1] The United Nations set up the Special Tribunal for Lebanon to investigate the killing, which along with an independent investigation carried out by Lebanese Brigadier General Wissam al-Hassan, found compelling evidence that Hezbollah carried out the assassination.[2][3][4] One of the investigators, Wissam Eid, was assassinated in 2008.[5]

In August 2020, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon found Salim Ayyash, a mid-level operative in Hezbollah, guilty in absentia of five charges including the premeditated murder of Hariri using explosive materials. Three other defendants were acquitted. The panel of judges concluded there was "no evidence that the Hezbollah leadership had any involvement in Hariri's murder and there is no direct evidence of Syrian involvement." Hezbollah denied involvement and its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, refused to allow the arrest of Ayyash.[5]

  1. ^ Rudy Jaafar and Maria J. Stephan. (2009). "Lebanon's Independence Intifada: How an Unarmed Insurrection Expelled Syrian Forces", in Maria J. Stephan (ed.), Civilian Jihad: Nonviolent Struggle, Democratization, and Governance in the Middle East, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 169–85.
  2. ^ Ronen Bergman. (15 February 2015). "The Hezbollah Connection". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  3. ^ "CBC Investigation: Who killed Lebanon's Rafik Hariri? – inquiry chief".
  4. ^ Avi Issacharoff (9 November 2010). "Report: Hariri tribunal to link top Hezbollah figures to assassination". Haaretz. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference bbc-20200818 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).