{"id":11530,"date":"2017-11-14T07:28:27","date_gmt":"2017-11-14T07:28:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/?p=11530"},"modified":"2017-11-14T07:28:27","modified_gmt":"2017-11-14T07:28:27","slug":"lebanese-president-pleased-with-pm-hariris-promise-to-return-from-s-arabia-sources","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/lebanese-president-pleased-with-pm-hariris-promise-to-return-from-s-arabia-sources\/","title":{"rendered":"Lebanese president pleased with PM Hariri\u2019s promise to return from S Arabia: Sources"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A poster of resigned Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri with Arabic that reads, “We are all with you,” hangs on a street in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Nov. 13, 2017. (AP photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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According to presidential palace sources, Lebanese President Michel Aoun\u00a0has expressed his content over Prime Minister Saad Hariri\u2019s promise to return to Lebanon from Saudi Arabia, over a week after the small Mediterranean country was plunged into political crisis following the premier\u2019s awkward resignation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lebanese government officials and senior sources close to Hariri believe that Riyadh forced him to step down and has further placed him under effective house arrest since he touched down in Saudi Arabia on November 3, a day before he announced his shock resignation in a televised address aired from the kingdom\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n

However, in his first interview since he flew to Saudi Arabia, Hariri described himself as a \u201cfree man\u201d\u00a0who intended to \u201creturn\u201d to his home country \u201cwithin days,\u201d\u00a0denying widespread speculations that he had\u00a0been on house arrest since he filed his resignation from the Saudi capital. Riyadh says the Lebanese premier has stayed in Saudi Arabia of his own free will.<\/p>\n

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PressTV-Hariri says not being held captive by Saudis<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Lebanon\u2019s Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri says he is not being held captive in Saudi Arabia and will be returning to his country in the next few days.<\/a><\/div>\n

On Monday, several visitors to President Aoun said in separate remarks that he gave positive assessment of comments made by Hariri in the Sunday interview regarding his upcoming return to Lebanon.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Aoun expressed his pleasure at Hariri\u2019s announcement of his return to Lebanon soon,\u201d a source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n

Hariri cited several reasons, including the security situation in Lebanon, for his sudden decision. He also said that he realized a plot was being hatched against his life. Furthermore, Hariri also accused Iran and the Lebanese resistance movement, Hezbollah, of meddling in the Arab countries\u2019 affairs; an allegation the two have strongly rejected. Hezbollah is part of the coalition government led by Hariri.<\/p>\n

In the interview, Hariri added that he would be willing to \u201crescind the resignation\u201d if intervention in regional conflicts, particularly \u201cby Hezbollah,\u201d\u00a0stopped.<\/p>\n

In response, Aoun was also quoted as saying of the premier that \u201crescinding his resignation is one of his options.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hariri\u2019s resignation has still to be accepted by the president. On Sunday, Aoun said that Hariri was living in \u201cmysterious circumstances\u201d with restricted freedom in Riyadh.<\/p>\n

The TV appearance by Hariri was also filled with bizarre moments. According to AP, at one point during the interview, Hariri’s eyes were wide open, moving to the back of the room as the camera caught a man in the back corner, behind the interviewer, holding what appeared to be a rolled paper.<\/p>\n

Lebanon\u2019s Foreign Ministry on\u00a0Monday pledged to keep up pressure on Saudi Arabia not to impede Hariri’s return, the\u00a0al-Akhbar<\/em>\u00a0paper reported, citing sources within\u00a0the ministry.<\/p>\n

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PressTV-Maronite leader visits Riyadh amid Hariri mystery<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The visit by Cardinal Bechara el-Rai, who\u00a0heads the Maronite sect, is the latest in Lebanon’s efforts to allay fears about the circumstances surrounding Hariri’s fate in Saudi Arabia.\u00a0<\/a><\/div>\n

Earlier in the day, Cardinal Bechara el-Rai, a top Lebanese Christian religious figure, flew to Saudi Arabia for a two-day visit in order to meet the seemingly trapped premier. El-Rai heads the Maronite sect, which is Lebanon’s largest Christian community and the Middle East’s largest Catholic church, to which President Aoun also belongs.<\/p>\n

Prior to his departure, El-Rai told reporters that the Lebanese people had been \u201cunsettled\u201d by Hariri\u2019s shock resignation and his return to the country, as he had promised, would restore normal life to Lebanon that was rocked by his unexpected move.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Lebanese people have been waiting for him (Hariri) to return, because the situation has come to a stop and the Lebanese people have been unsettled,\u201d El-Rai said, adding,\u00a0\u201cThey (the Lebanese) will not rest until he returns, so that\u00a0life returns to normal.\u201d<\/p>\n

The senior Christian figure added that he would \u201ccarry these concerns\u201d to Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and \u201cwish well.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A poster of resigned Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri with Arabic that reads, “We are all with you,” hangs on a street in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Nov. 13, 2017. (AP photo) According to presidential palace sources, Lebanese President Michel Aoun\u00a0has expressed his content over Prime Minister Saad Hariri\u2019s promise to return to Lebanon from Saudi …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":11531,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-culture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11530"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11532,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11530\/revisions\/11532"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wilayah.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}