Son of assassinated Lebanese prime minister thanks Brazil for support
BRASILIA, Brazil – Saad Rafik Hariri, the youngest son of assassinated former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, thanked President Luiz Inacio da Silva for his country’s support in the investigation into his father’s killing, on a visit on Thursday to the Brazilian capital.
Brazil supported a UN resolution asking Syria to cooperate with the investigation into Hariri’s February assassination.
“I come to thank President Lula for his positions,†Hariri said during brief comments made to reporters after his meeting with Silva, who is popularly known as Lula. “Lebanaon has passed through a very difficult time after the assassination.â€
Hariri was killed in a truck bombing in Beirut that also killed 20 others. His death sparked a wave of protests by Lebanese, many of whom accused Syrian leaders of orchestrating the killing.
“I believe that with a killing like this, one has to understand that no one can kill someone because they have a different opinion,†said Hariri, who heads the largest bloc in Lebanon’s parliament.
A UN report released last month implicated top Syrian and Lebanese intelligence officials in Hariri’s death. While the Lebanese government praised the report, Syria has rejected its findings as false, unprofessional and politicized.
Syria has repeatedly denied any role in Hariri’s death but was forced to withdraw its military from Lebanon in April under international pressure.
The former prime minister visited Brazil in June 2003, and Silva visited him in Lebanon during a tour of Arab countries in December of the same year.
The younger Hariri arrived here from island of Curacao, where he met with the local Lebanese community.