Dubai: Lebanese Prime Minister Sa’ad Hariri is expected in Paris Saturday after receiving an invitation from President Emmanuel Macron.
Since he resigned on November 4 during a televised press conference in Riyadh, the region has been rife in uncertainty and speculation over the implications of such a move.
Lebanese President Michel Aoun has yet to accept the resignation, insisting that Hariri come to Beirut first, which Hariri promised he would do eventually.
Macron told France24 television on Wednesday that after speaking with Hariri and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammead Bin Salman “we came to an agreement that he’d be invited for several days to France.”
On Friday, a member of Lebanon’s parliament for Hariri’s Future Movement confirmed he would be in Paris on Saturday.
“Today to Paris, this afternoon, and tomorrow a family meeting with (French President Emmanuel) Macron,” said MP Okab Saqr.
Macron added a stop in Saudi Arabia to an international trip late last week in a sign of growing international concern over Hariri’s surprise move and its implications for regional peace.
Saudi Arabia has taken a stepped up approach to confronting Iranian meddling in the region as of late.
Hezbollah—Iran’s most powerful military proxy—has been assisting Iran-backed Al Houthi militants in their war against the Saudi-backed and internationally-recongnised Yemeni government.
On November 4—the same day Hariri announced his resignation from Riyadh, Al Houthis launched a missile towards Riyadh which was intercepted—Saudi Arabia called it an ‘act of war’.
On Thursday, Saudi foreign minister Adel Al Jubeir said ‘enough was enough’ in regards to Iran’s consistent meddling the affairs of Arab states—insisting Riyadh was only acting in response to Iranian aggression.
On his part, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash insisted that the only way to confront Iran is to achieve Arab consensus.
Without unity, the “Hezbollah will dominate at the expense of free nations”, he wrote on Twitter.
