Mrs. Nazek Rafiq Hariri issued a statement expressing "greetings and longing for his pure spirit" on the occasion of the 16th anniversary of the martyrdom of President Rafiq Hariri. She stated, "The anniversary returns laden with longing and nostalgia for my lifelong companion and companion of the nation. To the exceptional statesman, the brave man, the initiator, the perseverant, and the committed in all his national, political, economic, humanitarian, and health responsibilities, he adds his visionary outlook and writes with his pure hand on a renewed page of Lebanon’s history, titled 'Hope for a Better Tomorrow.'"
She continued, "How much we yearn for your presence among us, our dear martyr. The challenges we face have become burdensome for our people and tumultuous for us. I say again, where are you, O bearer of promising visions, and national and humanitarian commitment, to smooth obstacles and soften hearts? Where are you, O statesman and man of principles, believer in Lebanon’s civil peace and shared living? Thanks to your faith in God Almighty, you were able to lift the dust of war from our beloved Lebanon and lead our good people towards development and reconstruction. Today, we are in a very delicate and critical political, economic, humanitarian, and health phase. We are facing life issues that cannot be resolved through political disputes and alignments but through consensus, national unity, and shared living. Would that you were with us in this difficult phase our country is going through, to help find solutions that move us from ambiguity and instability to a better place."
She added, "Today, we are more in need of your presence among us, as if we have stripped ourselves of humanity and compassion for ourselves, our people, and our nation. It seems as though the state of institutions, law, and social justice that you always sought to achieve has become a dream. The bridges of connection that you always extended have faded, allowing for sterile debates and blame exchanges that inflame souls and awaken divisions. Our people deserve nothing but goodness and a prosperous life, as you promised us and delivered much of it. However, a brutal hand reached out to you and assassinated you to destroy your hopes and dreams for this country. It seems as if they intended that your assassination and absence from us would also assassinate our beloved Lebanon in all our hearts."
Hariri concluded by "praying to the Almighty to avert from our beloved country Lebanon, its good people, and our Arab nation and the entire world this affliction and epidemic, and to have mercy on the martyr President Rafiq Hariri and all the righteous martyrs of the nation, enveloping them in broad mercy and forgiveness, preserving our country and blessing it with ample goodness, health, security, peace, and safety."
It is noteworthy that on February 14, 2005, former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri was assassinated along with 21 others when the equivalent of 1,000 kilograms of TNT exploded as his convoy passed near the St. George Hotel in Beirut.
