Shafaq News- Erbil

Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan Region, observed on Wednesday the 25th anniversary of Francois Hariri’s assassination, a senior figure in the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and one of Mullah Mustafa Barzani’s closest allies.

At the ceremony, which included the laying of a wreath at the site of his killing, Zana Mala Khalid, head of the KDP’s second branch, underscored the enduring sacrifices of the Kurdish national movement. He noted that despite the 1991 Kurdish uprising and the liberation from Baathist control, threats such as terrorism continue to loom, citing recent incursions by ISIS militants into Kurdish areas and across Iraq.

Born in 1937 in Harir, Erbil province, Hariri graduated from Erbil’s Teachers’ House in 1960 and joined the Peshmerga, fighting alongside Mullah Barzani and becoming one of his closest confidants. A Christian of Assyrian heritage, he was fatally shot by an armed group on February 18, 2001. Hariri played a pivotal role in shaping Kurdish resistance and the KDP’s political strategy.

Read more: 45 years since the passing of the "father of the Kurdish cause"