Lebanon's Hariri hails Chirac as one of France's 'greatest men'

Lebanese PM's family has long-standing ties to the former French president, going back to the early 1980s when Chirac became close to Saad Hariri's father Rafiq.

BEIRUT - Lebanon's prime minister on Thursday lamented the loss of former French president Jacques Chirac, calling him one of "France's greatest men" and a "spiritual twin" of his late father.

Chirac, a colossal figure in France's politics for three decades, died at the age of 86, on Thursday. Winning people over came easily to the career politician who cultivated an image as an amiable, beer-drinking, slightly buffoonish figure who understood ordinary people.

That man-of-the-people approach endeared him to French voters, even after a conviction for graft in 2011 after a Paris court ruled that he had colluded in the creation of 28 fake Paris town hall jobs for party workers.

He was handed a two-year suspended prison term, but by then Chirac was already suffering from a degenerative neurological disorder that blighted his final years and was spared the humiliation of appearing in court.

The trial laid bare how he had run the French capital as a personal fiefdom, with hundreds of thousands of euros squandered on extravagant catering and apartments owned by city hall let out at rock-bottom rents to Chirac's cronies.

But the revelations had little impact on his standing with the French public.

Helped by sympathy over his failing health and the intense dislike of his first two successors - his former protege Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist leader Francois Hollande - Chirac remained a popular figure to the end.

In a 2015 poll, the French rated him the "nicest" post-war president, ahead of Mitterrand and General de Gaulle.

He was widely praised for being the first French president to admit his country's responsiblity for the round-up of Jews sent to Nazi death camps during World War II.

His time as head of state from 1995-2007 saw France play a leading role in Lebanon, most notably in 2005, when he helped lead international efforts to push Syrian troops out of the country.

Chirac is also well remembered by many in the Arab world for spearheading opposition to the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 - a stance which angered the United States.

"War is always a last resort, always an admission of failure, always the worst of solutions, because it brings death and misery," he said at the time.

"Today, the world lost one of France's greatest men," Saad Hariri said in a statement released by his office.

"He held Lebanon's hand during its toughest times and was always at the forefront when it came to defending the country's freedom, sovereignty and independence," he added.

The prime minister said that Chirac's death also marked a great loss to his family.

The Hariri family has long-standing ties to the former French president, going back to the early 1980s when Chirac, then the mayor of Paris, became close to Saad Hariri's father Rafiq.

Chirac's death marks a "special loss of a dear friend, who was the spiritual twin" of Rafiq Hariri "and a big brother to my family," the Lebanese prime minister said.

The elder Hariri, a wealthy real estate developer who made his fortune in Saudi Arabia, made numerous investments in France and headquartered his construction group Oger International in a Parisian suburb.

Rafiq Hariri's friendship with Chirac turned overtly political after 1992 when he became prime minister of Lebanon. Chirac was elected president three years later.

Chirac was the only Western head of state to attend Hariri's funeral in Beirut in 2005. Hariri, a figure in Lebanon's anti-Syria opposition, was killed in a bombing that has since been blamed on the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

The bombing followed growing tensions as Damascus and pro-Syrian president Emile Lahoud sought an extension of Lahoud's term, which caused acrimony between Hariri and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. 

Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt alleged in the wake of the assassination that in August 2004 Assad had threatened Hariri, saying "if you and Chirac want me out of Lebanon, I will break Lebanon."

At the time Chirac strongly condemned Hariri's murder, calling for the full implementation of a UN Security Council resolution demanding Syria end its 29-year occupation of Lebanon.

He subsequently played a key role in the creation of a special tribunal to investigate the killing of Hariri and other Lebanese opponents of the Syrian regime.

Chirac lived in a luxurious Paris apartment owned by the Hariri family for around eight years after he left office and retired in 2007.

Reflecting on his legacy, political historian Jean Garrigues described him as a "major political figure" of his time but noted he took few major decisions while in office.

"One cannot say that he really transformed France. It's his personality that made him popular. He had a good way with people."