Saudi Arabia Says Hariri ‘Free to Leave’

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Thursday he would travel to France “very soon” from Saudi Arabia, which rejected accusations the premier was detained in Riyadh following his shock resignation, AFP reports.

Hariri, who has been in the Saudi capital since announcing there on November 4 that he was stepping down, met with visiting French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who said the Lebanese premier had accepted an invitation to Paris.

Earlier Le Drian held talks with his Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir who told reporters that Hariri, a dual Saudi citizen whose family is a longtime ally of the Sunni-ruled kingdom, was free to leave “when he pleases”

Jubeir is the highest-ranking Saudi official to comment on Hariri’s status since his surprise resignation when he accused Saudi Arabia’s arch-rival Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah of destabilising his country and said he feared for his life.

Hariri is living in the kingdom “of his own free will,” Jubeir said.

“These are false allegations. The accusation that Saudi Arabia is detaining a prime minister, and particularly a political figure who is an ally... is untrue,” he added.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun, who this week accused Saudi authorities of “detaining” Hariri and refused to accept his resignation from abroad, welcomed the news that the premier would visit Paris for talks with President Emmanuel Macron.

“We hope that the crisis is over and Hariri’s acceptance of the invitation to go to France is the start of a solution,” he said on the official presidential Twitter account.

“If Mr. Hariri speaks from France, I would consider that he speaks freely, but his resignation must be presented in Lebanon, and he will have to remain there until the formation of the new government,” Aoun said later in a statement issued by the presidency.