A massive crowd of flag-waving Lebanese filled a Beirut square Saturday to remember slain former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, an occasion his supporters used to rally the people before parliamentary elections in which they are fighting to stay in power. Four years after Hariri's death in a truck bombing, no one has been brought to justice, and the country remains deeply divided over whether to follow the pro-Western path of Hariri's supporters or the more radical pull of groups with ties to Iran and Syria. The rally in Martyrs' Square was primarily a display of political power in support of Hariri's allies in the parliament's pro-Western majority. Those parties, backed by the United States, will face a tough election battle in June against rivals supported by the Hezbollah militant group and its Syrian and Iranian allies. The election showdown reflects Lebanon's enduring political and sectarian divides, which worsened after Hariri's killing on Feb. 14, 2005, in an attack that also killed 22 other people. That division culminated in street clashes between Shiite Hezbollah gunmen and mainly Sunni pro-government groups in May of last year that brought the country to the edge of another civil war. At Saturday's rally, there was also some hope that Hariri's killers could eventually be brought to trial, as a mixed Lebanese-international tribunal prepares to begin its work in the Netherlands on March 1. Hariri had close ties with Western leaders and was credited with helping rebuild Lebanon's capital after the 1975-1990 civil war. Before his death, he had tried to limit neighboring Syria's influence over Lebanon and many accused that country's leaders of involvement in his killing.
