Assassination of Rafic Hariri

On 14 February 2005, Rafic Hariri, former Prime Minister of Lebanon, was killed, along with 21 others, when explosives equivalent of around 1,000 kg of TNT(2,200 Pounds) were detonated as his motorcade drove near the St. George Hotel in Beirut. Among the dead were several of Hariri's bodyguards and his friend and former Minister of the Economy Bassel Fleihan. Hariri was buried along with his bodyguards, who died in the bombing, in a location near Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque.Wissam Eid of the Lebanese Internal Security Forces Intelligence Branch, had found compelling evidence for the responsibility of Lebanese militia Hezbollah in the assassination. 

Nasrallah

In August 2010, in response to notification that the UN tribunal would indict some Hezbollah members, Hassan Nasrallah said Israel was looking for a way to assassinate Hariri as ear;y as 1993 in order to create political chaos that would force Syria to withdraw from Lebanon, and to perpetuate an anti-Syrian atmosphere [in Lebanon] in the wake of the assassination. He went on to say that in 1996 Hezbollah apprehended an agent working for Israel by the name of Ahmed Nasrallah – no relation to Hassan Nasrallah – who allegedly contacted Hariri's security detail and told them that he had solid proof that Hezbollah was planning to take his life. Hariri then contacted Hezbollah and advised them of the situation. Saad Hariri responded that the UN should investigate these claims.

Aftermath

Hariri was well regarded among international leaders, for example, he was a close friend of French President Jacques Chirac. Chirac was one of the first foreign dignitaries to offer condolences to Hariri's widow in person at her home in Beirut. The Special Tribunal for Lebanon was also created at his instigation.

UN Special Tribunal

As of 6 February 2006, both the United Nations and the government of Lebanon had agreed to a proposal establishing a Special Tribunal for Lebanon. The tribunal will mark the first time that an international court tried individuals for a "terrorist" crime committed against a specific person. The United Nations acted in early 2007 to force the process ahead, a move strongly opposed by Syria and its allies in Lebanon, and for reasons of security, efficiency and fairness, the location is to be outside Lebanon.

On April 29, 2009, following a request of prosecutor Daniel Bellemare, the tribunal ordered the "immediate and unconditional release" of the only four suspects arrested during the investigation, "for complete absence of reliable proof against them". These were General Jamil Mohammad Amin el-Sayyed (head of General Security), General Ali Salah el-Dine el-Hajj (chief of internal security forces, the Lebanese police force), Brigadier-General Raymond Fouad Azar (head of Army Intelligence) and Brigadier-General Mostafa Fehmi Hamdane (head of the presidential guard). Considered as Syria's main rule-enforcing agents at the time, they have spent nearly 3 years and 8 months in detention after Lebanese authorities arrested them on September 1, 2005, and during that period no charges were ever pressed against them. Their release came amidst a tense political atmosphere in Lebanon, due to the officially admitted heavy politization of the affair. Several anti-Syrian political figures have stated that "(we) still consider them as guilty.