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Lebanon’s Hariri says he will return to Beirut

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Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad Hariri has announced on a Paris visit that he will soon travel back to his country. Hariri’s recent resignation is seen as the latest fallout of the proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced on Saturday that he intended to return to Beirut for the country’s Independence Day celebrations on Wednesday.

Hariri sent shockwaves through regional politics two weeks ago when he announced his surprise resignation while abroad in Saudi Arabia.

“As you know I have resigned, and we will discuss that in Lebanon with President Michel Aoun,” Hariri said in Paris, having been invited by French President Emmanuel Macron in the wake of the crisis.

Lebanon has traditionally had very strong ties with its former colonial power, France. Paris has routinely provided Beirut with military and financial assistance, particularly in helping the nation rebuild after its civil war.

Hariri thanked Macron for his “generous hospitality,” while France has indicated its willingness to host an international meeting on the crisis should the need arise.

Political chaos ensnares Germany’s top diplomat

Prime Minister Hariri shocked the world when he declared that he was stepping down during a trip to the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on November 4, and then declined to return to Lebanon. His prolonged stay in Saudi Arabia prompted many, including German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, to assert that Hariri was being held against his will.

“To say that I am being held up in Saudia Arabia and not allowed to leave the country is a lie. I am on the way to the airport Mr. Sigmar Gabriel,” the prime minister wrote in a rare personal tweet on Friday night.

Riyadh has recalled its ambassador to Berlin over Gabriel’s comments.

 

President Aoun calls Saudi detention of Hariri ‘aggression against Lebanon’

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Lebanese President Michel Aoun

Lebanese President Michel Aoun says Saudi Arabia is holding Prime Minister Saay Hariri, calling the detention as an act of aggression against his country and a violation of international human rights regulations.

“Nothing justifies Hariri’s lack of return for 12 days. We therefore consider him detained. This is a violation of the Vienna agreements and human rights law,” Aoun said at a meeting with Lebanese journalists and media executives.

Aoun underlined the need for Hariri’s immediate return to Lebanon, saying, “We cannot wait a long time for Hariri’s return, we cannot stop the state’s work.”

Later on Wednesday, Hariri repeated his previous statements that he would return home. “I want to repeat and affirm that I am perfectly fine and I will return, God willing, to dear Lebanon as I promised you, you’ll see,” he wrote on Twitter.

Hariri announced his surprise resignation in Riyadh on November 4, shortly after traveling to Saudi Arabia. The televised announcement saw him reading out from a statement.

Lebanese government officials and senior sources close to Hariri believe that Riyadh forced him to step down and placed him under effective house arrest since he touched down in Saudi Arabia on November 3, a day before he announced his shock resignation.

Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry has pledged to keep up pressure on Saudi Arabia not to impede Hariri’s return, the al-Akhbar paper reported, citing sources within the ministry.

In a Sunday interview, the first since he flew to Saudi Arabia, Hariri described himself as a “free man” who intended to “return” to his home country “within days,” denying widespread speculations that he had been under house arrest.

Observers say even if he returned to Lebanon, Saudi Arabia could still hold his family “hostage.”

Hariri had taken to Twitter on Tuesday, saying he is “well” and will return to Lebanon “within says,” but that his family will stay in Saudi Arabia.

Hariri has cited several reasons, including the security situation in Lebanon, for his sudden decision. He also said that he realized a plot was being hatched against his life. Furthermore, Hariri also accused Iran and the Lebanese resistance movement, Hezbollah, of meddling in the Arab countries’ affairs; an allegation the two have strongly rejected. Hezbollah is part of the coalition government led by Hariri.

In the interview, Hariri added that he would be willing to “rescind the resignation” if intervention in regional conflicts – particularly “by Hezbollah” – stopped.

Lebanon’s Hariri travels to UAE after resigning as PM in Riyadh

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Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri is seen at the governmental palace in Beirut, Lebanon, October 24, 2017. (Photo by Reuters)

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad Hariri has reportedly left Saudi Arabia, where he announced his surprise resignation last week, for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to hold talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Hariri left Riyadh for Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, according to a report by Future TV, which is owned by the senior Lebanese politician.

Saudi Arabia’s Al-Arabiya television also confirmed the report, saying that Hariri had met with the Emirati crown prince, without further elaboration.

Hariri announced his resignation in a televised statement from Riyadh, citing many reasons, including the security situation in Lebanon, for his sudden decision. He also said that he sensed a plot being hatched against his life.

Hariri accused Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement of meddling in Arab countries’ affairs; an allegation the two have repeatedly denied.

The surprise announcement has sparked a new political crisis at home in Lebanon, fueling speculations that the PM had been forced by the Riyadh regime into stepping down.

Lebanese Justice Minister Salim Jreissati said Tuesday that Hariri should return to the country and his resignation should be “voluntary” to be formally considered by President Aoun.

A few hours after the announcement of Hariri’s resignation in Saudi Arabia, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi vehemently rejected his remarks and said his resignation and rehashing of the “unfounded and baseless” allegations regularly leveled by the Zionists, Saudis and the US were another scenario to create new tensions in Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East.

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary general of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, also said the country’s prime minister had been under pressure to resign his post.

Nasrallah noted that the announcement of Hariri’s resignation came after a number of visits to Saudi Arabia, adding that the text and style of his resignation clearly showed that it was not his own text and was a Saudi text dictated to the Lebanese prime minister.

Hariri, a close Riyadh ally, became prime minister of Lebanon in November last year after reaching a deal with other factions.

That power-sharing deal saw Aoun become president and ended a long power vacuum in the country.

Back then, observers described Aoun’s rise to power as a political victory for Hezbollah, which would gradually diminish the Saudi influence in Lebanon’s political arena. Riyadh had been vigorously lobbying to prevent Lebanon’s presidency from being placed in the hands of Hezbollah’s allies.

Lebanese parliament endorses new government led by Hariri

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Members of the new Lebanese government pose for a picture at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, on December 21, 2016. (Photo by Reuters)

A national unity government headed by Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has won a vote of confidence in the parliament.

On Wednesday, the 128-member legislature voted 87 to 4, with one abstention, in support of Hariri’s 30-member cabinet.

The vote of confidence came after Lebanese lawmakers debated the new government’s policy statement that outlined its priorities.

The cabinet, which includes most of the country’s political groups, has the slogan of “restoring confidence.”

In an address to the parliament on Wednesday, Hariri underlined the need for a new electoral law that will replace the 1960s legislation.

“There’s a role that should be played by the cabinet and another by the parliament… All political factions are seeking to endorse a new electoral law,” he said.

Touching on the issue of corruption at state institutions, the Lebanese premier further said that his administration had set a precedent in establishing a ministerial portfolio to tackle graft in the Middle Eastern country.

The new cabinet was announced on December 18, less than two months after the country’s parliament elected Michel Aoun, a Christian leader and strong ally of the Hezbollah resistance movement, as president. Aoun’s election ended a 29-month-long political stalemate in the country.

Lebanon is expected to hold parliamentary elections in May 2017, the first legislative vote in eight years.