Lebanon’s Leader, Still in Saudi Arabia, Claims He’s Free to Go
- 7 years ago
Lebanon’s Leader, Still in Saudi Arabia, Claims He’s Free to Go
12, 2017
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanon’s prime minister, Saad Hariri, whose mysterious sojourn in Saudi Arabia has shaken the Middle East, said in a television interview on Sunday night
that he was able to move freely, that he had left Lebanon in order to protect himself and that he would return home "within days." The remarks were his first in public since he unexpectedly flew to Saudi Arabia on Nov. 3 and announced his resignation from there a day later.
Lebanon’s president, Michel Aoun, had said earlier
that anything Mr. Hariri says from Saudi Arabia "does not reflect the truth, and is but the result of the mysterious and dubious situation he is undergoing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and hence cannot be taken seriously." "I’m free, I could leave tomorrow," Mr. Hariri told Ms. Yacoubian.
So the cards are revealed: You want a gvt and a stable Lebanon, get out of Yemen, says a #saadhariri speaking from (and under) Riyad’s skies The interview came hours after a record
number of people had taken part in the annual Beirut Marathon, which for many became a kind of statement of defiance against international interference in Lebanon by any side.
Those concerned that he may have been pressured or even detained by Saudi Arabia — including Lebanese officials, Western diplomats
and some of Mr. Hariri’s political allies — were unlikely to be convinced by anything short of his return to Lebanon.
Mr. Hariri said that his wife and children were at their family home in Saudi Arabia — he has both Saudi and Lebanese citizenship — and
that he had good relations with King Salman and the crown prince.
He said that upon returning to Lebanon, he would resign in person in the proper constitutional manner, but also
that he would hold conversations with Mr. Aoun and others and that he could possibly stay in office if Lebanon could follow a policy of neutrality in the region.
12, 2017
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanon’s prime minister, Saad Hariri, whose mysterious sojourn in Saudi Arabia has shaken the Middle East, said in a television interview on Sunday night
that he was able to move freely, that he had left Lebanon in order to protect himself and that he would return home "within days." The remarks were his first in public since he unexpectedly flew to Saudi Arabia on Nov. 3 and announced his resignation from there a day later.
Lebanon’s president, Michel Aoun, had said earlier
that anything Mr. Hariri says from Saudi Arabia "does not reflect the truth, and is but the result of the mysterious and dubious situation he is undergoing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and hence cannot be taken seriously." "I’m free, I could leave tomorrow," Mr. Hariri told Ms. Yacoubian.
So the cards are revealed: You want a gvt and a stable Lebanon, get out of Yemen, says a #saadhariri speaking from (and under) Riyad’s skies The interview came hours after a record
number of people had taken part in the annual Beirut Marathon, which for many became a kind of statement of defiance against international interference in Lebanon by any side.
Those concerned that he may have been pressured or even detained by Saudi Arabia — including Lebanese officials, Western diplomats
and some of Mr. Hariri’s political allies — were unlikely to be convinced by anything short of his return to Lebanon.
Mr. Hariri said that his wife and children were at their family home in Saudi Arabia — he has both Saudi and Lebanese citizenship — and
that he had good relations with King Salman and the crown prince.
He said that upon returning to Lebanon, he would resign in person in the proper constitutional manner, but also
that he would hold conversations with Mr. Aoun and others and that he could possibly stay in office if Lebanon could follow a policy of neutrality in the region.