Lebanon’s Aoun says Saudi Arabia detained Hariri

Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun on Wednesday accused Saudi Arabia of having “detained” Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who announced his resignation in a statement from the kingdom earlier this month.

“Nothing justifies the failure of Prime Minister Saad Hariri to return for 12 days, therefore we consider him to be held and detained, contrary to the Vienna Convention,” Aoun said in a tweet on the official Lebanese presidency account.

Speculation has swirled about the circumstances of Hariri’s resignation since his surprise announcement on November 4 in a statement read on Saudi Arabia’s Al-Arabiya television channel.

There have been rumors that the prime minister had been detained along with dozens of Saudis in what Riyadh says is an anti-corruption campaign.

Hours after Aoun’s statement, Hariri took to Twitter in an apparent bid to quell rumors of his detention.

“I want to repeat and confirm: I am totally, totally fine and I’ll come back, God willing, to beloved Lebanon like I promised you all. You’ll see,” he wrote.

It was his second tweet in two days seeking to dispel concerns that he was being held against his will.

“Guys, I am perfectly fine, and God willing I will return in the coming days. Let’s calm down,” he said on Tuesday, in his first tweet in more than a week.