Lebanon calls on Saudi Arabia for clarity over Hariri

Lebanon's president called on Saudi Arabia on Saturday to clarify the reasons preventing Prime Minister Saad al Hariri returning to Beirut, his office said.

Hariri's shock resignation during a trip to Riyadh last week plunged Lebanon into crisis, thrusting the small Arab country back to the forefront of regional rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran. He has been in Saudi Arabia ever since. 

Lebanese authorities believe Hariri is being held by Saudi Arabia, from where he quit in a broadcast last week, two top Lebanese government officials, a senior politician close to Hariri and a fourth source have said. 

"Lebanon does not accept its prime minister being in a situation at odds with international treaties and the standard rules in relations between states," President Michel Aoun said.

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Iranian-backed Lebanese faction Hezbollah, on Friday said Saudi Arabia's detention of Hariri was an insult to all Lebanese and he must return to Lebanon.

"It is clear that Saudi Arabia and Saudi officials have declared war on Lebanon and on Hezbollah in Lebanon," he said.

His comments mirrored an accusation by Riyadh on Monday that Lebanon and Hezbollah had declared war on the conservative Gulf Arab kingdom.

Envoy informed

President Aoun also told Saudi Arabia's envoy to Lebanon on Friday that Hariri must return to the country, Lebanese media reported.

Aoun told the Saudi Charge d'Affaires Walid al-Bukhari that the circumstances of Hariri's resignation were unacceptable, the reports said. 

Saudi Arabia has denied that Hariri is being held against his will. 

Riyadh says Hariri is free and decided to resign because Iran's Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, was calling the shots in his coalition government.

Hariri has made no public remarks since quitting last week, when he said he feared assassination and accused Iran along with Hezbollah of sowing strife in the Arab world.

Hariri, whose family made its fortune in the Saudi construction industry, has also given no sign of when he might return to Beirut.

The Lebanese premier took part in a ceremony in Riyadh on Saturday welcoming Saudi King Salman from Medina, his media office said. Hariri met with the Turkish and British ambassadors at his Riyadh home in the afternoon, it said.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement that Washington calls upon "all states and parties to respect Lebanon's sovereignty, independence, and constitutional processes."

Saudi Minister for Gulf Affairs Thamer al-Sabhan warned earlier this month that his government would deal with Lebanon as a hostile state as long as Hezbollah was in the Lebanese government. The Lebanese unity government that Hariri formed a year ago includes Hezbollah members — the result of a tacit Saudi-Iranian agreement to sideline Lebanon from the other proxy wars in the region.

Al-Sabhan blasted in a tweet late Saturday as laughable those expressing support and "love" for Hariri despite their previous opposition to him. He added that those who "sold out" Lebanon would soon be exposed.