Hariri announces return to Lebanon as crisis simmers

Prime Minister Saad Hariri said he will return to Lebanon for Wednesday's Independence Day celebrations and explain his situation, after his shock resignation announcement.

Speaking after talks in Paris on Saturday with French President Emmanuel Macron, who is seeking to broker a way out of the crisis, Hariri said he would "make known my position" once back in Beirut.

"As you know I have resigned, and we will discuss that in Lebanon," he told reporters, saying he needed to meet with President Michel Aoun before taking further steps.

The news follows two weeks of deep uncertainty after Hariri's surprise announcement to step down on November 4.

His failure to return to Lebanon since sparked rumours that he was being held in Riyadh against his will, which both he and Saudi officials denied.

"To say that I am held up in Saudi Arabia and not allowed to leave the country is a lie," he said in a Twitter post just before flying to Paris overnight.

Hariri's wife and eldest son Houssam joined him for lunch with Macron at the Elysee Palace, but their two younger children, who live in Saudi Arabia, have remained there "for their school exams", a source close to the premier said.

After the meeting, Macron's office said the president will "continue to take all necessary initiatives for Lebanon's stability."

"We are helping to ease tensions in the region," the Elysee Palace added.

Hariri's mysterious decision to step down - which president Aoun has refused to accept while Hariri remains abroad - has raised fears over Lebanon's fragile democracy.

Hariri - whose father, ex-prime minister Rafiq Hariri, was killed in a 2005 car bombing blamed on Hezbollah.

Germany's Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel had said Thursday that he shared concerns about the threat of instability and bloodshed in Lebanon and warned against "adventurism".

"Lebanon has earned the right to decide on its fate by itself and not become a pinball of Syria or Saudi Arabia or other national interests," he had said earlier in the week.

Germany's foreign ministry had yet to comment on the row, but in a statement it welcomed Hariri's "imminent return to Lebanon".

Paris, which held mandate power over Lebanon for the first half of the 20th century, plans to bring together international support for Lebanon, depending on how the situation develops.

The French president has also telephoned his counterparts in the US and Egypt, Donald Trump and Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, as well as the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to discuss "the situation in the Middle East".

He and Trump "agreed on the need to work with allies to counter Hezbollah's and Iran's destabilising activities in the region", according to a White House statement on Saturday.

However, Macron told reporters Friday that France wanted "dialogue" with Iran and aimed to "build peace... not to choose one side over another".

Source: Khaleej Times