Excerpts: Hariri continues assassinated father's mission.Future relations
with Iran June 28, 2009

+++NAHARNET(Lebanon) 28 June '09:"Saad Hariri: Political Novice Turned
Premier
",Agence France Presse
QUOTE: Forbes magazine put Saad Garari's net worth at $1.4 billion ... also
holds Saudi nationality"

FULL TEXT:Saad Hariri, who was propelled into the heart of Lebanese politics
following the assassination of his former prime minister father four years
ago, was himself named to the top job on (27 June).
After the murder of his popular father, Rafik, in a 2005 bomb blast, the
young tycoon took center stage in the anti-Syrian opposition, and now has
two parliamentary election wins under its belt.

Three weeks after Hariri's March 14 alliance clinched 71 out of parliament's
128 seats in the June 7 poll, President Michel Suleiman tasked Hariri with
forming a new government.

The Saudi-born Hariri initially attributed his political success to the
sympathy vote for his father and five-time ex-premier, who founded
al-Mustaqbal movement that his 39-year-old son now leads.

Already a success of his own in the business world, Hariri was chosen to
continue the "national and political mission" of his father, who was
credited with rebuilding Lebanon after the devastating 1975-1990 civil war.

Forbes magazine put Saad Hariri's net worth at 1.4 billion dollars in its
2009 list of the world's billionaires, down from 3.3 billion last year.

Hariri was one of the main negotiators in the formation of the unity
government in May 2008, bringing to an end a political crisis that had
brought Lebanon to the brink of civil war.

Hariri is a business graduate of Georgetown University in Washington, and
heads his late father's Saudi-based construction firm, Saudi Oger. One of
the largest companies in the Middle East, it employs around 35,000 people.

The Hariri empire, which Saad has managed since 1996, also spans banking,
real estate and media through companies such as Saudi Investment Bank, Saudi
Research and Marketing Group and Future Television.

He also has his own real estate company.

Saad Hariri, who also holds Saudi nationality, was born April 18, 1970,
Rafik Hariri's second son by his first Iraqi wife.

He is married to Lara Bashir al-Adem, who hails from a prestigious Syrian
family, and the couple has two children.(AFP)

+++SAUDI GAZETTE 28 June '09:"World leaders seek new Iran strategy",By
Timothy
Heritage,Reuters
SUBJECT: Future relations with Iran.

EXCERPTS:WORLD leaders face pressure to find a new policy for dealing with
Iran following its disputed presidential election and crackdown on
protesters, but are unlikely to tighten sanctions any time soon.
The United States and the European Union want to encourage democratic change
but will also try to avoid doing anything that could block the way to
dialogue with Tehran when the crisis ends or be portrayed by Iranian leaders
as interference, experts say.
They are likely to hold back the threat of tighter sanctions for use in
discussions on Iran's nuclear program. Agreement on trade sanctions would be
unlikely anyway because of opposition from UN Security Council members China
and Russia.
But they may also avoid embarking on any new strategy for now while the
situation in Tehran remains fluid.
"The dynamics of the ruling establishment have changed, the dynamics of the
opposition have changed. We are dealing with a totally new scenario," said
Mehrdad Khonsari, an analyst at the Centre of Arab and Iranian Studies in
London.. . ..
The United States and the EU have scant leverage on Iran, which limits their
options to condemnations of the repression and calls for the people's
democratic will to be respected.
In addition, they fear that Russia and China are seeking to use their good
relations with the authorities in Tehran as a pawn in a geopolitical game
with the West.
The EU and the United States also know they will need to talk to whoever is
in power to try to halt a nuclear programme that they fear could produce a
nuclear bomb, although Iran denies it has any plans to do so.

Big stick on nuclear issue
Obama is reluctant for now to upset his policy of encouraging dialogue with
Iran.
"They (the Americans) don't want to prejudice the future and want to keep
open the possibility of dialogue with Iran once the internal crisis is
over," said Clement Therme, an analyst at the French Institute of
International Relations in Paris.
"There's only a certain window of opportunity if they want to get Iran to
stop its nuclear programme and all the time this situation is evolving that
window of opportunity gets smaller."
For this reason, Washington is likely to want to keep the threat of fresh
sanctions in reserve.
United Nations sanctions on Iran already cover weapons, nuclear materials,
the travel and finances of individuals and firms, and other financial and
trade measures.
The EU has frozen the assets of Iran's biggest bank, Bank Melli, and imposed
visa bans on some officials.
The United States has banned most US-Iran trade and imposes sanctions on
foreign companies that invest more than $20 million a year in Iran's energy
sector.
. . .The Europeans have cut back on export credit guarantees for trade
with Iran and could cut them further, although Germany, Italy and Austria
are reluctant, especially when their exporters are struggling in the global
economic crisis.. . .
================================
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA