Franso Toma Hariri ( syr, ܦܪܢܣܘ ܚܪܝܪܝ; 1937 – February 18, 2001), was a Iraqi

Assyrian Assyrian may refer to: * Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia. * Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire. ** Early Assyrian Period ** Old Assyrian Period ** Middle Assyrian Empire ** Neo-Assyrian Empire * Assyrian ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, and a high-ranking and long-standing

Kurdistan Democratic Party The Kurdistan Democratic Party ( ku, Partiya Demokrat a Kurdistanê; پارتی دیموکراتی کوردستان), usually abbreviated as KDP or PDK, is the largest party in Iraqi Kurdistan and the senior partner in the Kurdistan Regional Gov ...

member and head of the KDP block of the

Kurdistan Region Parliament The Parliament of Kurdistan ( ku, پەرلەمانی كوردستان ,Perlemanê Kurdistanê or simply Perleman, ar, برلمان كردستان, links=https://www.parliament.krd/arabic/), also called the Kurdish Parliament (IKP), is the parl ...

Personal life

Franso Hariri was born in the city of

Harir Harir ( ar, حرير, ku, ھەریر, Harîr) is a town and sub-district in Erbil Governorate in Kurdistan Region, Iraq. The town is located in the Shaqlawa District. In the town, there was a church of Mar Yohanna. History Harir is mentioned ...

(70 km from

Erbil Erbil, also called Hawler (, ar, أربيل, Arbīl; syr, ܐܲܪܒܹܝܠ, Arbel), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It lies in the Erbil Governorate. It has an estimated population of around 1,600,000. Hu ...

) in 1937, and graduated from the Erbil Teaching Institution in 1960. He worked for the

in the early 1960s and was a close friend of the late

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

leader

Mustafa Barzani Mustafa Barzani ( ku, مەلا مسته‌فا بارزانی, Mistefa Barzanî; 14 March 1903 – 1 March 1979) also known as Mela Mustafa (Preacher Mustafa), was a Kurdish leader, general and one of the most prominent political figures in mode ...

. Franso held important positions in the KDP during the Kurdish Revolution. He was elected a member of the KDP Central Committee in 1979 and was the head of the KDP delegation in the Kurdistan regional parliament, the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of Erbil, and a minister in the third

Kurdistan Regional Government The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) ( ku, حکوومەتی هەرێمی کوردستان, ''Hikûmetî Herêmî Kurdistan'') is the official executive body of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq. The cabinet is selected by the m ...

in Erbil. He supported projects for the beautification and modernization of the city of

. He was also well known as a strong supporter of education, health, and sport projects in the city. His son

Fawzi Hariri Fawzi Franso Toma Hariri (born 1958 in Arbil, Iraq) is an Assyrian politician and former Iraq Minister of Industry. Despite inaccurately being labeled as Kurdish throughout different media reports, Hariri is of Assyrian origin and son of the polit ...

was a former Minister of Industry of Iraq.

Assassination

Hariri was assassinated on his way to work on February 18, 2001 by four Kurdish

Ansar al-Islam Ansar al-Islam in Kurdistan ( ku, ئەنسارولئیسلام له کوردستان),Chalk, Peter, ''Encyclopedia of Terrorism'' Volume 1, 2012, ABC-CLIO simply called Ansar al-Islam ( ku, ئەنسارولئیسلام), also nicknamed the Kurdi ...

members. Two previous attempts had been made on his life in Erbil on 1994 and 1997 at the same place and the same street but he escaped from both. In honor of Hariri, the Kurdistan Regional Government declared three days of mourning and renamed the Erbil football stadium the ''Franso Hariri Stadium''.

References

Kurdistan Democratic Party
Iraqi Assyrian politicians Nochiya Tribe People from Erbil Kurdistan Democratic Party politicians 1937 births 2001 deaths Iraqi Christians Assassinated Iraqi politicians People killed by Islamic terrorism Governors of Erbil Governorate {{Iraq-politician-stub