Lebanese premier to return, but confirms resignation
BEIRUT — Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Saturday said he will return to Lebanon to clarify his political position after abruptly resigning from Saudi Arabia two weeks ago, setting off fears of wider instability and raising questions about whether he had willingly quit.
Hariri spoke from Paris where he met with French President Emmanuel Macron after arriving on a plane from Riyadh early Saturday. Lebanese officials had accused Saudi authorities of holding Hariri, a onetime political ally, hostage as part of an attempt to destabilize Lebanon. Macron quickly stepped in to mediate the crisis, inviting the embattled premier to France for an official visit and paving the way for his exit from Saudi Arabia. Hariri plans to travel to Beirut next week for inde- pendence day celebrations and meetings with Lebanese President Michel Aoun. “I will be going to Beirut in the next few days. I will participate in the celebration of our independence day. From there, I will announce my position on all matters after meeting with President Aoun,” he said from the French presidential pal- ace in Paris. “You know that I submitted my resignation, and we will talk about this issue in Lebanon,” he said. The trip would mark an end to his mysterious self-exile since he suddenly stepped down Nov. 4, citing Iranian influence and the military power of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite political move- ment and his partner in government. Hariri is a Sunni Muslim.
Lebanon was shocked by his resignation and pointed to the harsh language of his statement as evidence he only stepped down under pressure.
Saudi officials are keen to squeeze Hezbollah as Iran’s most powerful proxy in the region. Saudi Arabia’s Sunni monarchy and Shiite-majority Iran are in a battle for influence across a battered Middle East — a rivalry that has helped kill tens of thousands in places such as Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
Many Lebanese feared their tiny but diverse nation— which boasts Sunnis, Shiites, Christians and other sects — could easily be plunged into political or sectarian turmoil. The government is run on a national power-sharing pact that divides political author- ity among Lebanon’s three major religious groups. The agreement — made after the Lebanese civil war from 19751990 — calls for a Sunni prime minister, a Christian president and a Shiite speaker of parliament.
So far, Lebanon has man- aged to largely shield itself from the conflicts raging around it. And the coalition government formed last year was welcomed by many Lebanese. Even opponents of Hariri — including Hezbollah’s secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah — united to call for his return.
The move “caused anger among all the Lebanese people against Saudi Arabia,” said Elias Farhat, a retired general in the Lebanese army. “We want good relations with Saudi Arabia, but now you abduct the prime minister?”
It also appeared to turn many in the Lebanese Sunni community against Saudi Arabia, which some here believe humiliated not only their leader but the country’s prime minister.
Saudi Arabia “didn’t count on the fact that some things changed in Lebanon” with the coalition government, and that the Lebanese people had rallied around it, said Mohammed Obeid, a political analyst with ties to Hezbollah.