Lebanon Prime Minister Saad Hariri says resignation on hold awaiting talks

Beirut, Nov 22: Lebanon’s prime minister Saad al-Hariri has said that he has put his resignation “on hold” pending talks with the rest of the Lebanese government.
In a televised speech on Wednesday after an Independence Day parade, Mr Hariri said he had offered his resignation to President Michel Aoun as planned, but accepted the president’s suggestion to “postpone” the decision.
“Our beloved nation needs in this critical period exceptional efforts from everyone to protect it in the face of dangers and challenges,” Mr Hariri said from the presidential palace. 
“[President Aoun] urged me to wait before offering [my resignation] and to hold onto it for more dialogue about its reasons and political background, and I showed responsiveness.”
The Sunni Future Movement party leader arrived home in Beirut late on Tuesday night after almost three weeks abroad following his shock resignation from Riyadh, a move many believe was ordered by Saudi Arabia. 
Mr Hariri’s announcement goes someway towards easing the political crisis which tossed Lebanon into the forefront of the regional struggle for dominance between Saudi Arabia and Iran - which backs Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. 
The reversal, however, is likely to displease the Kingdom. The prime minister and Saudi authorities have denied his resignation was forced or that he remained in Riyadh for so long against his free will. 
His decision to resign was ostensibly triggered by fears of assassination - the fate which befell his father, the much more popular prime minister Rafic Hariri, in 2005 - and a protest against Hezbollah’s growing power both at home and over the border, where it is fighting in Syria’s civil war. 
Many observers, however, believe Riyadh had grown impatient with the prime minister’s inability to contain Hezbollah, and seeks to derail Lebanon’s coalition government. 
In Wednesday’s speech Mr Hariri reiterated the need for Lebanon to remain neutral on regional disputes and conflicts “and all that undermines internal stability and brotherly relations with Arab brothers.” 
Mr Hariri’s eventual return to Lebanon came after mediations by French President Emmanuel Macron. The prime minister flew to Paris for a few days with brief stops in Cairo and Cyprus before finally returning to Beirut on Tuesday, almost three weeks after he was summoned to Riyadh. PTI