Suleiman: Hariri anniversary will help peace

President Michel Suleiman renewed his calls for national dialogue Monday, saying that he hoped the Tuesday anniversary of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s assassination would set the stage for “regaining Lebanese unity.” Suleiman joined a host of political and religious figures in speaking about Hariri Monday, the day before events to commemorate his Feb. 14, 2005 death. Sleiman said he hoped the anniversary will “set the stage for regaining unity among Lebanese, based on acknowledgement of the other, as well as dialogue in order to strengthen national unity and bolster the country against the repercussions of foreign events.” He added that national unity would not be achieved without “genuine national dialogue that places the interests of the country above all other considerations, and above the narrow personal interests that Lebanon has suffered from for decades.” National dialogue has been stalled for over a year, and Suleiman’s attempts to restart official talks between the rival March 8 and March 14 blocs have so far been unsuccesful. Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt Monday called Hariri a “statesman par excellence” who “believed in the cause of Lebanon’s independence and sovereignty and paid the price with his life for these stances. He believed in Syrian-Lebanese relations away from [Syrian] tutelage.” Jumblatt added that “Lebanon remains indebted to Hariri in many fields,” and noted that the PSP “were first to call for the establishment of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon” that was set up to investigate and try those who killed Hariri and others in related assassinations. In a Monday speech, Grand Mufti Mohammad Rashid Qabbani said “we should genuinely and loyally support the STL to find the truth and the killers to assassinated Rafik Hariri and his companions, and punish them to achieve justice.” Qabbani said this should not be “a matter of dispute, but a motivation for national agreement to find the truth behind this historic crime.” Qabbani called Hariri “a great national leader not only for a sect but for Lebanon and all the Lebanese,” and said that “in order to be loyal to this great man we should walk in his path ... and finally be rid of all the disputes that disrupt the building of Lebanon and providing opportunities for its youth, which can only be provided through real security and stability.” Hariri’s wife Nazek Hariri also spoke about her husband’s legacy Monday. “Looking at the reality of the Arab nation, and seeing innocents die every day amid the screams of mothers pains us and drives us to despair," she said, continuing that “the challenges around us are difficult domestically and externally but the solution is to look at them as Hariri did, that the cup is half full ... a progressive democratic nation is the one that Hariri wanted and the one that will be achieved.”