Lebanese prime minister feared to be in Saudi custody

LEBANESE politicians fear their prime minister is being held in Saudi Arabia against his will after he suddenly announced on television from Riyadh that he was stepping down.

Saad Hariri’s party has called for Saudi Arabia to allow him to return after he shocked his country on Saturday with his unexpected statement. He has not been seen in Lebanon since.

Michel Aoun, Lebanon’s president, has said he will not consider the premier’s resignation until the two meet in person.

Mr Hariri’s Al-moustaqbal (Future Movement) party issued a statement last night saying it was “necessary” for the politician to return “to restore Lebanon’s dignity and respect”.

Moustapha Allouch, an MP in the Almoustaqbal party, said: “We have no information. We just want him to return home.”

Lebanon is used to affronts to its sovereignty, often becoming a battleground for proxy conflicts in the region, but it has not seen anything like the spectacle played out in the past few days.

Mr Hariri, whose Sunni Future bloc is backed by Saudi Arabia, declared he was stepping down in protest at the growing influence of the Shia Hizbollah party. Saudi then announced it considered the participation of Hizbollah in the government an “act of war” against Lebanon.

Critics say Saudi is seeking to divide the parties in the hope they turn against the ascendant Hizbollah, whose arsenal rivals that of the army.

At home, even Mr Hariri’s aides have

reacted with surprise and disbelief at the events, privately suggesting he was coerced into stepping down by Saudi Arabia. A front-page headline in alakhbar, a newspaper that leans toward Hizbollah, called Mr Hariri a “hostage”

earlier this week. Saudi officials have denied Mr Hariri is under house arrest, releasing pictures of him having meetings in the capital with Saudi’s King Salman and with officials in the UAE.

The 47-year-old’s private plane was reported to have landed in Beirut on Thursday morning without him. Saudi Arabia yesterday upped the stakes, ordering all its citizens in Lebanon to return home immediately.

Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, said he would visit Riyadh to discuss the leader’s case.

After he was ousted as prime minister in 2011, Mr Hariri, who has Lebanese and Saudi citizenship, split his time between France and Saudi Arabia until he returned to Lebanon in 2014.

Mr Macron said: “I will also emphasise the importance of Lebanese stability and integrity,” adding that he had held informal contacts with Mr Hariri but there had been no request for asylum in France.

Saudi Arabia’s posturing appears to be closely linked to an effort by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to eliminate challengers and consolidate his own power. The country’s sweeping anti-graft purge has widened to more than 200 people.

Authorities say they were being questioned in relation to $100 billion (£76billion) believed to have been lost through corruption and embezzlement over several decades.

“The potential scale of corrupt practices which have been uncovered is very large,” the country’s attorney general said.

An estimated 1,700 bank accounts belonging to individuals had been frozen. The government said that only personal banks had been frozen, leaving companies and businesses so far untouched.

The crown prince is leading the probe as the head of a newly formed anti-corruption committee.