Paris: Lebanon’s president yesterday said he hoped the crisis over Saad Al Hariri’s resignation as prime minister would end soon, with Hariri due to leave Saudi Arabia for France this weekend.
Hariri quit in a broadcast from Saudi Arabia on November 4, railing against Iran and its Lebanese ally Hizbollah.
A Elysee Palace source said Hariri would fly to Paris tomorrow and meet President Emmanuel Macron the same day.
French officials said they did not know how long Hariri would stay before returning to Beirut but hoped his trip would help soothe the crisis by demonstrating he was not being held in Saudi Arabia, as Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun has said. Macron earlier clarified that the invitation was not an offer of political exile.