Hariri’s surprise resignation

PARIS/ BEIRUT: Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri may soon be able to clarify whether he really means to resign, after French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday invited him to France.

The surprise move came 11 days after Hariri, pictured, announced his resignation from Saudi capital Riyadh, hours after Lebanon’s president, Michel Aoun, accused Saudi Arabia of holding him captive.

A source in the Elysee Palace said Hariri was expected in France “in the coming days,” and his family was also invited.

Hariri’s unexpected resignation has plunged Lebanon into political crisis.

The Sunni Muslim prime minister, a Saudi ally, said he feared for his life. He accused Iran and its Lebanese ally, the Shiite Hezbollah movement, of destabilising his country and the Arab region.

The move was widely seen as reflecting the desire of Saudi Arabia’s powerful crown prince, Mohammed bin Sal- man, to put pressure on rival regional power Iran and its allies.

But with growing speculation that Hariri was no longer a free agent, it sparked intense diplomatic activity amid concern for Lebanon’s hard-won and fragile political stability.

The country suffered a sectarian civil war between 1975 and 1990, and has feared that the conflict in neighbouring Syria could spark new trouble.

Hezbollah’s armed wing has taken a lead role backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and Lebanon hosts about a million Syrian refugees.

If Hariri arrives with his family, it will further persuade the Lebanese that he is free to speak his mind. – ANA-DPA