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On eve of Hariri verdict, Lebanese grapple with new ordeal
By Tom Perry and Ghaida Ghantous BEIRUT (Reuters) - More than 15 years since Lebanon's Rafik al-Hariri was killed by a massive bomb blast in Beirut, the verdict of a U.N.-backed tribunal into his assassination is due on Tuesday as the country reels from the aftermath of an even bigger explosion. The Aug. 4 port blast, which killed 178 people, has overshadowed the long-awaited verdict. It was the biggest explosion in Lebanon's history and more powerful than the bomb that killed Hariri and 21 others on Beirut's seafront corniche in 2005. Hariri, a Sunni billionaire seen as a threat to Iranian and Syrian influence in Lebanon, had close ties with the United States, Western and Sunni Gulf Arab allies opposed to Iran's expanding role in Lebanon and the region. Four members of the Iran-backed Shi'ite group Hezbollah have been on trial in absentia over the killing of Saudi-backed Hariri, Lebanon's main Sunni Muslim leader. Hezbollah denies any role in the killing, which set the stage for years of confrontation, culminating in a brief civil war in 2008. The verdict comes as new divisions emerge over demands for an international inquiry and political accountability for the port blast, caused by a huge amount of unsafely stored chemicals. It may further complicate an already tumultuous situation following the explosion and the resignation of the government backed by Hezbollah and its allies. "We're scared. The country is unsettled," said Ebtisam Salam, a woman in her 60s, from Beirut's Tariq al-Jadida neighbourhood, a political stronghold of the Hariri's Future Movement which has been led by his son Saad son his death. She plans to watch the verdict on TV. "Hopefully the truth will come out," she said. |