Fahd rafiq al hariri biography

Lebanese politician Rafic Hariri (1944-2005) helped rebuild his country after its long civil war, both as a billionaire businessman and as its prime minister from 1992-1998 and 2000-2004. Hariri amassed his fortune in Saudi Arabia in the 1970s and 1980s, then returned to Lebanon and became its dominant political leader of the 1990s and 2000s.

Hariri family tree

After emerging as an opponent of neighboring Syria's occupation of Lebanon, Hariri was assassinated by a massive car bomb, causing an international dispute that led to the occupation's end.

Hariri relished his public role as “Mr. Lebanon,” the international leader of his nation's recovery. “He was as extravagant in his charitable works as he was in his big-game hunting, yachts, private jets and multimillion-dollar real estate projects,” wrote Susan Sachs of the New York Times. “Always impeccably dressed, he was stout with bushy eyebrows and a commanding manner.”

Hariri was born on November 1, 1944, in Sidon, a town on the