Saad Hariri (18 April 1970-) was Prime Minister of Lebanon from 9 November 2009 to 13 June 2011 (succeeding Fouad Siniora and preceding Najib Mikati) and from 18 December 2016 to 21 January 2020 (succeeding Tammam Salam and preceding Hassan Diab).
Biography[]
Saad Hariri was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 1970, the son of the Lebanese businessman Rafic Hariri and his Iraqi wife Nidal Bustani. He served as Chairman of the Executive Committee of Oger Telecom from 1994 to 2005, and, in 2005, he became the leader of the Sunni Future Movement following his father's assassination by Hezbollah. In addition, Hariri became the leader of the anti-Syrian March 14 Alliance, and he went on to serve as Prime Minister from 2009 to 2011. His coalition collapsed minutes after he stood for photos with President Barack Obama on a state visit to the United States, and, in 2012, the Syrian government demanded his arrest for supporting Syrian Opposition groups during the Syrian Civill War. In 2016, President Michel Aoun appointed Hariri Prime Minister for a second time to end a parliamentary deadlock, but, on 4 November 2017, he tendered his resignation due to his fears about Iran and Hezbollah's over-extension in the Middle East and assassination attempts. Iran and the Axis of Resistance accused Saudi Arabia of holding Hariri hostage, and it was alleged that the Saudi government had beaten and physically restrained him. The majority of the Lebanese government requested his return, upon which Saudi Arabia released him in November. On 21 November, after returning to Beirut, Hariri rescinded his resignation. In 2019, however, his popularity collapsed amid the Lebanese Revolution, which called for increased transparency and accountability in politics. He resigned on 29 October 2019, and he headed a caretaker government until Hassan Diab succeeded him in January 2020.