By Natalia Antelava
BBC News, Beirut
**Lebanon is preparing to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the killing of its former prime minister, Rafik Hariri.**Mr Hariri’s son Saad, the current prime minister, has urged his supporters to turn out in force at Martyrs’ Square in the centre of the capital, Beirut.
The assassination of Mr Hariri changed the political landscape of Lebanon.
The billionaire was killed, along with 21 other people, when a massive truck bomb exploded beside his convoy as it drove along Beirut’s seafront.
“What we got is a process that takes time, and whoever thinks that this justice will not come is very wrong”
Saad Hariri
It was an act of political violence rare in both its magnitude and impact - tens of thousands took to the streets blaming Syria for the killing, a charge its government denied.
The public outcry was so great that it forced the Syrians to end their 29-year military presence.
Friend or foe
The UN recently launched a tribunal to try the suspects in Mr Hariri’s murder.
During the early stages of the investigation, the UN implicated top Syrian officials, including the brother-in-law of President Bashar al-Assad, in the killing.
But now it is not clear whether the tribunal will provide evidence proving this link.
In Lebanon, many have been critical of the investigation, saying that it has been slow and inefficient.
But in an interview with the BBC, Prime Minister Saad Hariri defended the tribunal.
“What we got is a process that takes time, and whoever thinks that this justice will not come is very wrong, very dead wrong,” he said.
“Everything in that tribunal is moving forward in the right way. All we have to do really is to be patient.”
Mr Hariri also defended his recent decision to go to Syria, where he met President Assad - once his biggest enemy. It was a visit, he explained, during which he had to put his personal feelings aside.
“I went to Damascus because I am the prime minister of Lebanon. It does not matter what I said in the past. What’s important today is that I act as somebody who believes that Lebanon benefits from a good relationship with Syria,” he added.
In this deeply divided country, some supporters of Mr Hariri welcome this approach, yet others say that they are deeply disappointed.
As one politician here put it, Mr Hariri’s new attitude towards Syria undermines everything that he had fought for.