Eleventh Assassination Anniversary of Hariri Marked Amid Presidency Differences

Lebanon marks on Sunday the eleventh anniversary of slain former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was assassinated on February 14, 2005.

This year's commemoration is marked amid conflicting reports whether any of the March 14 figures will boycott the event in light of the latest differences over the controversial file of the presidency.

According to reports published in the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa daily, Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi has confirmed his attendance after his withdrawal from the cabinet last week drew the ire of al-Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri.

Rifi, of the March 14 alliance, withdrew from a cabinet convention on Thursday after it failed for a third time to address referring the case of former Minister Michel Samaha to the Judicial Council.

Via Twitter Hariri had announced: “Rifi's stance does not represent me.”

Unnamed sources told the daily that Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea will attend the celebration and that he will be represented by his wife MP Sethrida Geagea and a number of LF deputies.

Geagea endorsed his long time rival of the March 8 camp Change and Reform bloc MP Michel Aoun for the presidency in what observers saw as a reaction to Mustaqbal head Hariri's proposal to nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the post.

The Mustaqbal chief arrived in Beirut at dawn on Sunday to take part in the commemoration that will held at 4:30 at BIEL.

The Feb. 14 assassination killed Hariri and 21 others and wounded more than 200 people, stunning a nation long used to violence. The charismatic billionaire businessman was Lebanon's most prominent Sunni politician. Although a divisive figure, he was credited with rebuilding downtown Beirut after the ravages of the 1975-90 civil war.

The massive explosion that tore through his convoy on the Beirut seaside 10 years ago sent a tremor across the region and unleashed a popular uprising that briefly united the Lebanese and ejected Syrian troops from the country. But a decade later, and despite millions of dollars spent, justice remains elusive in a case that has been overshadowed by more recent turmoil.

Five Hizbullah suspects are being tried in absentia by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon based in The Hague.