Lebanon’s PM says resignation on hold pending talks
LEBANON’S Prime Minister Saad Hariri said yesterday he had agreed to suspend his surprise decision to resign, at the request of President Michel Aoun, pending talks on the political situation.
The new decision came hours after the premier landed back in Lebanon for the first time since announcing his resignation in a statement from Saudi Arabia on November 4.
“I discussed my resignation with the president of the republic who asked me to wait before submitting it . . . and allow for more consultations,” Hariri told reporters after meeting Aoun. “I agreed to this request.”
Lebanon has been gripped by the political crisis precipitated by Hariri’s resignation, including the question of whether the premier was being detained in Saudi Arabia, where he remained for two weeks after stepping down.
Aoun had refused to accept Hariri’s resignation while the premier was still abroad, and even accused Riyadh of having “detained” the prime minister.
Hariri holds dual Saudi-Lebanese citizenship, and denied he was being held against his will by Riyadh, a close political ally, but accepted a French invitation to visit Paris, leaving the kingdom on November 18.
After stops in Egypt and Cyprus on Tuesday, he landed in Beirut close to midnight, and yesterday appeared at the country’s Independence Day celebrations marking 74 years since the end of France’s mandate in Lebanon.
He appeared relaxed, at times smiling and appearing to joke with those alongside him during the military parade to mark the national holiday.
In announcing his resignation, Hariri had said he feared for his life, invoking the 2005 assassination in Beirut of his father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
He also harshly criticised Saudi Arabia’s arch-rival Iran, and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah, saying they had taken over Lebanon and destabilised the region.
The resignation of the Sunni leader was seen as raising the temperature in a long-running rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran that has played out across the region.
In Lebanon, the political scene is deeply divided between Hariri’s Saudi-backed bloc, and that led by the powerful Shiite Hezbollah group, which is backed by Iran.
Hariri’s decision to suspend his resignation now opens the way for discussions on a possible resolution to the crisis.
He had already signalled that he could consider rescinding his resignation altogether if Hezbollah pledged to respect Lebanon’s policy of “disassociation” from regional conflicts.
Hariri and his allies say the group, with Iranian support, has violated this policy by fighting in neighbouring Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad’s government, as well as providing assistance to Huthi rebels battling Saudi Arabia in Yemen.