BEIRUT: Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri commemorated Wednesday slain Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel and said the March 14 coalition would continue to work in the defense of Lebanon’s sovereignty.

“On this sad commemoration, we miss a brother and a loyal friend, and feel a dire need for his presence among us in these difficult days, to lead our youth, raise his voice to defend Lebanon and reject attempts to connect our country to any external axis,” Hariri said, according to a statement from his office Wednesday.

His comments come on the sixth anniversary of the assassination of Gemayel, who was shot dead in broad daylight while driving through the Beirut suburb of Jdeideh.

Hariri described Gemayel as one of the distinctive figures of the 2005 marches that followed the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri who was killed in a car bomb.

“We also emphasize the principles for which Pierre Amin Gemayel was martyred for and affirm that we will continue to work with our allies, especially with [former] President Amin Gemayel and the Kataeb party, to defend our national sovereignty and our free independent national decision,” Hariri added.