Saad Hariri

Saad Al-Hariri (Arabic: سعد الدين رفيق الحريري‎‎; born 18 April 1970) is a Lebanese politician. He became the Prime Minister of Lebanon for a second time in December 2016. He was also the Prime Minister from November 2009 to June 2011. He is the second son of Rafic Hariri, the former Lebanese Prime Minister who was assassinated in 2005. Hariri has also been the leader of the Future Movement party since 2005. He is seen as "the strongest figurehead" of the March 14 movement. After three years living overseas, he returned to Lebanon unannounced on 8 August 2014 and he was designated Prime Minister on 3 November 2016.

Saad Hariri was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on 18 April 1970, and is the son of Rafic Hariri and his first wife Nida Bustani, an Iraqi. In addition to his native Arabic, Hariri speaks English, French and Italian. He graduated in 1992 from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University with a major in Business Administration. He then returned to Saudi Arabia where he managed part of his father's business in Riyadh until his father's assassination in 2005.

Prior to entering politics, Hariri served as the chairman of the executive committee of Oger Telecom, which pursues telecommunication interests in the Middle East and Africa. In addition, Hariri was the chairman of Omnia Holdings and a board member of Oger International Entreprise de Travaux Internationaux, Saudi Oger, Saudi Investment Bank, Saudi Research and Marketing Group and Future Television.

On 20 April 2005, the Hariri family announced that Saad Hariri would lead the Future Movement, an essentially Sunni movement that was created and led by his late father. He is also the leader of the March 14 Alliance, a coalition of political groups born out of the Cedar Revolution which, through mass popular demonstrations and Western support, led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon in 2005 after a 29-year presence.

Premiership

Hariri was prime minister from 9 November 2009 until 13 June 2011.

Government collapse

On 12 January 2011, minutes after Hariri posed for pictures with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office, the opposition parties resigned from his unity government cabinet, in protest at the inability of the government to take detrimental decisions, causing its collapse. The withdrawal of Hezbollah and its allies was due to political tensions arising from investigations into the assassination of Rafic Hariri. Hezbollah operatives had been accused of the assassination of Rafic Hariri.

Hariri continued on for four months as caretaker Prime Minister. The new Lebanese government was formed on 13 June 2011 and headed by Najib Mikati. Mikati created a March 8-led government coalition.

Syrian arrest warrant

On 12 December 2012, Syria issued a warrant for the arrest of Hariri, Future bloc deputy Okab Sakr and Free Syrian Army official Louay Almokdad on charges of arming and providing financial support for Syrian opposition groups. Hariri released a statement in response, describing Bashar Assad as a "monster".

Second tenure

Following more than two years of deadlock in electing a president, March 8's Michel Aoun was elected. Shortly after, Aoun signed a decree appointing Hariri as prime minister for the second time and he took office on 18 December.

In 2007, French President Jacques Chirac awarded Saad Hariri the Legion d'Honneur.

Hariri holds dual citizenship, Lebanese and Saudi Arabian. He married Lara Bashir Al Azem in 1998 and has three children: Houssam (born 1999), Loulwa (born 2001), and Abdulaziz (born 2005). His wife is from a prestigious Syrian family. He lived in Paris, France, from 2011 for safety reasons, but returned to Lebanon on 8 August 2014.

In 2011, he was said to be the 595th richest person in the world with a net worth of $2 billion.