Saad Hariri
Saadeddine Rafik Hariri (born April 1970) is the younger son of Rafik Hariri, the assassinated former prime minister of Lebanon. Saad Hariri studied business administration at Georgetown University. At the time of his father's death, he was running Saudi Oger, a USD $3.15 billion (sales) construction conglomerate established by his father, and living in Saudi Arabia.
After his father's assassination and the Cedar Revolution, however, Saad Hariri returned to Lebanon and took up his father's political standard. He is running for the Lebanese parliament on an anti-corruption, pro-reform platform. He favors negotiations to disarm Hizbullah, withdrawal of Israel's military forces from Shebaa Farms, and resistance to Syria's longstanding influence in Lebanon. He supports the Mideast peace process and described the Arab initiative launched in 2002 by Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah as "very serious."
There is recurring speculation that Hariri may become prime minister if, as expected, his party wins a majority of Lebanese parliamentary seats. However, he has called for the resignation or removal of Lebanese president Emile Lahoud, considering him too beholden to Syria, and has implied that he would be unwilling to serve as prime minister if Lahoud remained in office.
Hariri is married to Lara al-Azem and has two children, Hussameddine and Lulua.